With Wands and Swords
by Seaweed Princess of the Fandom
Summary: Being a wizard wasn't easy. Being 'Harry Potter' didn't make it any easier. But things were really starting to push it when, on a harmless vacation to the cabins at Montauk, Harry accidentally falls into a strange camp with boundaries only he can cross, facing some haunted yet strangely familiar teenage faces. (CROSSOVER. HP'S POV.)
1. Let's go!

**Chapter 1**

 **Let's go!**

 _His body was slick and long, slithering across the linoleum floor…_

"Harry! _Harry!"_

 _.. slithering closer and closer to the end of the corridor.. it was as if the door was watching him, like a predator waiting for his prey.. he was almost there.._

"Wake up, you lazy tosser!"

Not all too gently Harry was shaken from his dream, a certain beaming redhead staring down on him as if he'd just won the lottery.

His friend's long and freckled face was blurry around the edges, but even with his sleep-lidded eyes Harry could make out that he was a lot more happy than a normal boy should've been on a Monday morning.

He groaned, and shoved Ron away to grab his glasses. His scar was prickling lightly. "What're you so chippy for?"

If Ron was a type to bounce up and down without hitting his head against his own ceiling, he would've done it. Instead he just grinned manically and clapped his hands in excitement. "It's the sixth! It's happening!"

It took a few seconds for Harry to get what he meant.

But when he did; he grinned as widely as Ron was doing and resisted the urge to jump up and down on the bed. "New York!" He yelled, bumping his fist in the air. His best friend started laughing too.

They had been waiting to pack their stuff and leave Grimmauld's place – and finally that day was there. With Harry's money, combined with Sirius's – his godfather had been the one who suggested to all leave the country for a few weeks instead of being kept up in his old and dusted house – and a couple other people of the Order had chipped in as well. Even Molly agreed to the plan to leave for New York for two weeks; even though it was _Sirius_ that suggested it. (Though Harry suspected that she'd only agreed to it _after_ Lupin had said that the Order wouldn't have to be all secretive in the house because the kids would be out of their hair, plus, they'd be out of range of pretty much everything bad in England right now.)

Pig the owl, as if sensing their excitement, starting buzzing around their heads, chirping as loud as they were laughing.

The door busted open. The boys didn't falter in their enthusiasm, much to the dislike of the bushy-haired and sleepy headed girl who'd entered the room. "It's six in the morning! We have a long flight ahead of us, and don't you think it's smarter to –"

"Oh, cheer up, Hermione." Ron grinned at her. "We're finally trading this dump," he gestured to the damp, dark, and above all depressing room around them, "for New York!"

"Technically, we've just rented a cabin at Montauk. But, yeah, sure, New York." She had her arms crossed, and her voice sounded bossy – but she was smiling, too. She came from a muggle family, and though she had traveled a bit around Europe, she'd never been overseas before.

Another girl entered the room. "Mum's waiting downstairs," Ginny said, rubbing her eyes. "She –" she yawned for a second before continuing, "she said that she's just waiting for your socks to dry from yesterday's wash, Ron."

A loud _bang_ startled the four teens, and they were welcomed by two redheads staring at them with identical smiles plastered on their faces. "I'd brush your hair first before going downstairs, Ronnikins," Fred said dryly after seeing Ron's bedhead, "Mum's in a right state about ' _representing the British Wizarding Community_ ' – "

"- it's like Bill all over again," George added,

"She almost threatened to cut off Sirius' bun." Finished Fred for him, smirking.

Harry snorted. "I guess that didn't turn out too well?"

"Let's just say dogs bite." He said darkly before turning to Ginny. "Oh, and Pig's not coming. I heard mum and dad arguing about it this morning."

Before she could open her mouth to protest, the loud voice of Mrs. Weasley traveled up the stairs, bellowing: "GEORGE! FRED! GET _DOWN_ HERE!"

The twins both sighed before sharing a knowing look. "I guess she found our backpack."

Before anyone could ask what kind of things they'd packed _now_ (Molly had already made sure that none of the Expendable Ears would make the trip – at least, as far as she was aware) Fred said: "One sec."

They were gone with a second _bang._

Ginny huffed. " _'Pig's not coming_ ' – what a bunch of Merlin's crap. C'm here." She nodded to the frizzy little – and still excited – owl, who followed her immediately out of the room.

 _x-x-x_

An hour later they finally were packed and ready to go. It hadn't been all too quiet, either: Ginny had a black eye – Harry had accidentally whacked her in the face while bringing his broom downstairs – and Hermione's hair was standing in all directions – blame Tonks' enthusiasm in helping her pack all her books by using a new spell she'd learned – they'd lost Crookshanks for a while – Lupin had to put all his effort to the task of getting that cat back in her cage – but finally they were ready, smiling as if they couldn't stop.

Even Harry's face felt like it would split in two, and for the first time in weeks it wasn't due to the lightning scar on his forehead. His summer hadn't been all that great, with the month spend at the Dursley's, the Dementor attack and now waiting for the hearing, but this trip would surely help a bit to distract him from all that. _New York!_

"Right." Molly clasped her hands together. She looked nervous – but she was trying to mask it by smiling at them. "You've got everything? Clothes? Enough warm cloaks? Your wands?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "Yes, mum, don't worry. We'll be fine."

"And otherwise we've got those two to take care of us." Ginny added, her voice very soft to avoid Sirius' mother waking up, and nodded to Sirius – currently in animagus form – and Lupin.

Molly's smile slipped into a painful grimace; as if that was exactly what she was afraid of. "You all write, won't you? Send an owl as soon as you get off the plane! I don't understand why you've got to travel like muggles –"

Harry's gaze turned to his feet, his smile disappearing.

Molly let out a small, ' _oh_ ', before clasping his shoulders. "Don't worry about it Harry, dear, it's not your fault that the ministry –"

"Time to go." Lupin joined in dryly, sticking his head through the door opening. "The cab's here."

"Well. I guess that's it, than." Molly stared at her kids for a few seconds with a solemn expression on her face - eyeing her twins hauling their big blue backpack, her daughter still rubbing her dark eye in pain, and the three friends – before she burst into tears.

"Dear!" Mr. Weasley looked startled, but quickly locked his arms around his wife, patting her awkwardly on her back. "They will be back before you know it."

"I know, I know, I'm just being silly." She waved her hand at him, smiling through her tears. "But it's just that, with _You-Know-Who_ out there… and they're traveling without their mother… "

Sirius barked when Lupin smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Molly," he said, "Nothing's going to happen. Dumbledore made sure that the house will have all the appropriate protective charms, and we'll make sure – no, _I promise_ you that no harm will come to any of this children."

She sniffed, before holding her arms open to hug all her children – and Hermione and Harry included – tightly. "I'll hold you to that promise," Molly scolded to a smiling Lupin. "And you," she added to the twins, her tears suddenly gone, "I will not hear _one thing_ about you two causing trouble, hear?"

"Loud and clear, mum," Fred said, but he winked at Harry from across his mother's shoulder, who smirked in response.

"We shall make sure," George added, "that nothing of our mischief reaches your ears."

She wacked them both on their heads, ignoring her other children roaring with laughter.

"We really need to get going." Lupin pressed on as he grabbed Crookshanks' cage.

Everyone hauled their bags on their backs – and Harry volunteered to help with all the broomsticks. "Quick question," he asked, trying to catch up with Lupin on the street, "how exactly are we going to hide from the driver that we've got _these_ things? And not to forget – the owls?"

Lupin's smile seemed to resemble those of the twins', and Harry couldn't help but smile back. "Don't worry about it, Harry. It's all taken care of."

Before he could ask what exactly the old marauder had done; he found his answer.

At the end of the street stood a black London cab, but Harry had the feeling it wasn't just a normal old cab. Firstly because they never would've fit – with or without all the luggage – and secondly because of the familiar looking man who was waiting beside it. The cabdriver was short, stinking of old unwashed socks and cigars, and he looked as he was just pulled out of bed – aka: the old thief Mundugus Fletcher.

Harry grinned at him, even though he was supposed to be mad about him from his actions earlier that summer. "I didn't know you could drive?"

He huffed. "I cannot. Mad-Eye made me –"

Lupin quickly interrupted him by shoving the bags in Mundugus' arms. "Special car with special orders from Mad-Eye," Lupin said kindly to Harry as the other joined them. "You didn't _really_ think Dumbledore would let you travel without the appropriate supervision?"

Sirius barked, as if to say that he didn't think Mundugus was 'appropriate supervision' material, and Harry wanted to agree, but Mundugus spoke before either of them could. " _Mad-Eye_ seems to think tha'," he shoved the bags roughly in the back of the cab, "since I left ya unprotected earlier this summer," his raw voice grew more nervous at Sirius's growling, "I 'ad to make up. So," he gestured wildly to the old and probably heavily enchanted car, "I'm making up. Make sure ya tell 'im that."

"I'll tell him that after you get us at the airport safely," Lupin said darkly and Ginny started giggling.

 **X**

 **End of chapter one.**

 **This is going to be a multi-chapter crossover fic, with mainly from Harry's pov.**

 **Any questions, message me. Any comments, review.**

 **P.S.:**

 **Old readers of 'The Tales of a Modern Hero' : I should thank you very much for giving me all the nice memories. Really. Your support kept me writing, and I think I'm never going to stop.**

 **And I should give my sincerest gratitude to** ** _StellaTheReviewer_** **– without your support I wouldn't be writing this – and** ** _Kitkat789_** **– for giving me the inspiration I needed when my writer's block wouldn't disappear.**

 **Ciao, darlings.**


	2. Ride full of Dung

**Chapter 2**

 **Ride Full of Dung**

It took a while, but at last everyone was seated.

Lupin had taken a seat in the front, with Fred next to him – whose head was bobbing to the window with every bump in the street – Ron was in the back with Ginny on his lap, George in the middle and Harry to the left-side with Hermione on top of him, who was desperately clinging to the seat in front of her. She had protested loudly that she didn't want to be in anyone's lap due to the insecurity, but after she'd almost been crushed by George's weight she'd conceded. Neither of the children in the back looked happy, but the dog in the back of the car looked the most depressive of all. Sirius – or Snuffles, as they all called him now – was sitting beside a very chippy Pig, a calm yet annoyed Hedwig, and a vile Crookshanks who didn't mind showing her discomfort. He was the only "animal" not in a cage, but that was going to change. Lupin had told them – smirking – that since Sirius still was a wanted criminal on muggle news, he had to travel like a dog. And, since dogs aren't allowed on the plane with the people, he had to travel in a cage with all the luggage.

Harry had laughed at first as the rest had done, but now he couldn't help but pity him. It was a very long flight, and he was sure that Sirius – like most people in this car – had never flown in his life. Actually, Harry was pretty sure that the only one with some experience with airplanes was Hermione.

And she was also the one constantly checking up if they'd prepared good enough. "But, Professor Lupin," she said for the tenth time since Mundugus had started the motor with a tap of his wand, "how are we going to get through security? We've got our wands, which I'm sure they're going to suspect to be weapons, and the brooms, and they are going to ask questions about having an owl as a pet, and –"

Lupin sighed. Harry had to give it to him: he had stayed calm and reasonable in all his answers to Hermione. Not something Ron – or him – would've done. "Call me Remus, Hermione. And don't worry, I have dealt with these kinds of things before. Hiding a broom isn't all that difficult, all you need is a bag and a Undetectable Extension –"

He was cut off by Mundugus loud swearing. "Wha' a lot of buffers!" His face was reddened. "Can' nobody drive like nothing?"

"Not everyone has magical steering, Dung." Lupin said calmly, though for the first time, it was hinted with some annoyance. "What I was trying to say, Hermione, is that everything is taken care of. Your wands will travel with the bags who're going in the back, not with you in the plane. If they ask questions about it, let me handle it."

Mundugus suddenly took a quick left, and Hermione – unintentionally – pressed against Harry, who made a very high and girly cry. George, next to him, started gniffling.

"Just – shut up, George," Harry mumbled, which only made George laugh harder.

"But without wands, how are we going to be safe?" She pressed on, determined. "What if a Death Eater is following us? I mean, Harry is pretty recognizable –"

"Thanks a bunch, Hermione."

She huffed, but she was blushing. "You know what I mean, Harry! Not everyone has your complexion. I mean, look at Ron! There are so many redheads –"

"Feeling the love!" Came Ron's muffled voice from behind Ginny's hair, and Hermione blushed even more.

"This is coming out all wrong… Look. I just meant that not many people have, you know, green eyes and black here, as to red hair and brown eyes…"

Fred's voice sounded pained, as if Lupin was sitting on his lip rather than just sitting next to him. "I'd shut up now, if I were you, before accidentally hurting one of the many redheaded brown-eyed people sitting next to you." She quickly closed her mouth with a snap. "Anyway," Fred continued, "just a random question. Are fireworks allowed on airplanes?"

Sirius started barking, and even Harry couldn't stifle a laugh. "They're not," Lupin answered slowly. "Almost nothing is allowed with you on an airplane: deodorant isn't, perfume, anything that can possibly be used as a weapon… so what made you think fireworks is okay?"

"Deodorant isn't allowed?" gulped Ginny, and she pulled a face. "Can I please sit _anywhere_ but next to Ron, then?"

Harry snorted.

"Why isn't it legal?" George whined on the backseat. "It's such a long flight! We're all going to die of sheer boredom! Sure they allow us _some_ fun?"

Lupin growled. "This isn't –" Mundugus suddenly slammed on the brake, making the girls yell – which was unnecessary, since Harry and Ron were quick enough to put their arms around the girls to make sure they wouldn't fly through the front window – but Lupin continued as if nothing happened: "- a joke! If we make one misstep we can face hours in custody at the airport, and as you all know, it is dangerous enough as it is to transport you all to America! We can't afford to be side-tracked or held back. _You-know-who_ is out there, and I don't think he hasn't at least a few people keeping a close watch on you, Harry!" – Harry was already wondering when he was going to be called out in Lupin's tirade – "The only chance we get of having a trip without anything happening is if we get on the plane as quick as possible! That means," he added darkly, turning his head to Fred, " _no fireworks._ Nothing even remotely close to being categorized as 'mischievous'. Am I understood?"

"Yes, yes, okay." Fred sighed deeply. "Sorry, Professor. Didn't mean to step on your toes. It was just a joke."

Lupin tried to brush his greyed hair out of his eyes, but couldn't move his arms because they were stuck at his side. "Normally, I'd agree to jokes, god knows the world needs more of those, but this is not the time nor the place!"

Fred's right arm wasn't locked against the window, and he quickly held it up in defeat. "Okay! Got it! Loud and clear! No jokes."

Harry glanced back, locking eyes with his godfather. They were the only two people – beside Lupin – who knew about the ex-marauder's past. Little did the twins know that they were dealing with someone they'd looked up to. And now Fred was probably thinking Lupin to be a bossy and responsible adult who didn't tolerate fun.

It took a lot of his effort to stop himself from laughing.

"Harry!" mumbled Hermione annoyed, "stop shaking!"

"I'm not shaking! That's the car!"

 _"Out o' the way ya tosser!"_

"Mundugus!" Lupin yelled angrily, his voice almost a roar. "That was a pedestrian! You've got to let them cross, not run them over!"

 _x-x-x_

After a long ride that took should've been quick, they finally arrived.

As Lupin had already said, he'd taken care of anything. He stuffed the six broomsticks in a black handbag – under the big and astounded eyes of the teenagers – with relatively little effort, and all the wands followed soon after. Harry didn't like giving up his wand, it was as if chopping off his arm, and it left him feeling vulnerable and exposed, but he knew Lupin was right. They couldn't all carry wands with them on the plane, the muggles would surely think they'd gone mad. The only one carrying his wand was Lupin, but he had stuffed it – Lucius Malfoy style – in an old cane. He hadn't explained why, but Harry was sure that Lupin still didn't feel safe enough.

Harry didn't, either. He wasn't in disguise, which felt weird and scary.

They had discussed it at home, whether or not he should take Polyjuice Potion to travel as someone else, but they had no guarantee that he'd be able to drink some every hour on the ride, and they couldn't afford to cause any trouble in the air. And Dumbledore'd figured that, if Harry would suddenly change back to himself among Muggles, surely some panic would break out. To conclude: Harry was his usual, slightly long but skinny self. Even Molly's suggestion to gel his hair hadn't worked, it had proven impossible to get his hair down – even with magic.

"Right." He said, eyeing the teenagers. Harry had his backpack, which he would give up to the security, just like Hermione, Ron and Ginny. The bag of the twins was safely inside Lupin's own bag – he hadn't trusted them to keep their word and not bring any fireworks with them. Ginny was holding Pig's cage, Fred was holding Hedwig and George was holding Crookshanks – though he didn't look happy about it. "Let's go."

"Ain' nobody gonna thank me?"

Ginny huffed. Her black eye was slowly turning purple, and the fact that she'd bumped her head again during the ride hadn't improved her mood. "For _what,_ exactly? The fact that you almost killed us all, or for that old lady you nearly –"

"What's she's trying to say," Fred said, steering his fuming sister away from Mundugus, "is thanks for the ride, Dung."

Mundugus rolled his bloodshot red eyes, but relented. "Don' forget I did this for y'all!" he said before stepping in the car again and driving away – after, again, almost running over a little child and her mother carrying a pink trolley.

"I'm afraid I'm never going to forget this ride," Ron mumbled, still looking a bit green.

Harry shrugged at him. "And you want to ride on the _Knight Bus_? Are you sure you're up to that?"

"If it was as bad as this, I'll pass."

"Listen up!" Lupin's voice carried all over the parking lot. "This is how it's going to happen. Harry, you're with me, alongside Hermione and Ron. You two," he pointed to the twins, "I must remind you that even though you're at age in the wizarding world, you're still considered underage as a muggle. You watch over your sister, but you come to me as soon as you get the animals alongside the bags ready to be boarded." He glances apologetic to Sirius, who barked as a response. "You take Snuffles as well, that goes without saying. Harry, Hermione, Ron – you'll wait with me in the lobby, and _do not move_ from your spot until everyone's together again. We're too big a group to travel to the drop-off spot, we're too noticeable. We stick together, in one place, that means no detours to restaurants," he pointed at Fred and George sternly, who started whining, "because we can't afford to come looking for each other. We've got half an hour to kill before we check in, then it's through security and on the plane. I want to hear nothing about trouble, detours, whining of boredom, or cravings. We can eat on the plane. You can drink on the plane. You can pee on the plane, too." He turned to Harry, his eyes a bit sad, "I don't want you out of my sight, Harry. I'm sorry that I have to do this, but it's for the best."

"It's okay." It actually wasn't, but Harry understood. "Listen, I'm sorry I made this trip so much more convenient for you guys," this was directed to everyone. "Without me, you'd be in America right now already, and –"

"Without you we wouldn't have the money for the trip in the first place, dude," Fred remarked dryly.

Harry sighed. It wasn't just that. They didn't get it, neither of them ever would. He felt bad enough that they had to travel as muggles instead of side-along apparate instantly, let alone that Snuffles had to be transported as a wild animal and that everyone wasn't even allowed to go to the bathroom to keep an eye on _him._ He felt as he was a target for every danger out there, endangering all his friends for standing a bit too close to him. "I mean it," he started, but was yet again interrupted.

"We mean it, too!" Ron started walking towards the big entrance. "You've got to drop it, Harry. We understand the risks. We agreed to travel like this – we really don't mind. Sure, the ride with the cab could've gone better,"

"Understatement," muttered Ginny under her breath.

"But," he continued, rolling his eyes at Harry, "we've all never traveled by airplane before. Let's see it as an experience rather than a precaution?"

"I _can't_ just –"

"You have to." Hermione petted Harry awkwardly on his shoulder, and she smiled reassuringly. "V-Voldemort," she ignored the twins shuddering theatrical in the background, "isn't just going to appear out of nowhere here, Harry, you don't have to worry about any of us getting hurt. And my father always used to say that it isn't about the final destination, it's about the journey that gets us there."

"That's a _lousy_ saying!" Ron bellowed over his shoulder at her.

She huffed defiantly. "Just because you don't know it, doesn't mean it's –"

"Try to keep the bickering to a minimum," Ginny interrupted. "I'm afraid I don't have the patience."

"We weren't –"

"You were." Harry pointed out dryly, and Hermione did the mature thing: she stuck her tongue out at him.

"If we could all just focus," Lupin called out, and all the teenagers looked up in unison to the big glass building in front of them.

It was early, but that didn't seem to make it any less crowded. People were running, walking, crawling – fine, fine, Harry saw just two babies doing that, but they were people too, weren't they? It didn't seem to have a system. Trolleys were pushed around in every direction, and staff members were yelling and shouting incoherent things at visitors. There were clusters of people sitting on the ground talking to each other, some people were even sleeping in their own seats. The whole place reminded him of something, but he couldn't recall what. It was a beautiful chaotic mess: and Harry was pretty sure that it would be pretty difficult to stick together as a whole.

Lupin, however, didn't seem discouraged when he'd turned around at the teenagers and said with a big smile: "Welcome, everyone, to the muggle airport _Heathrow_!"

I

 **X**

 **I've got to keep the chapters short to be able to update daily. (Yes. Sorry. Blah, blah.)**

 **They're flying tomorrow! Will the twins smuggle in some goods?**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think. Review!**


	3. Flying with dragons

**Chapter 3**

 **Flying with Dragons**

"I hate airplanes."

"Me too buddy, me too."

Harry knew from the moment of take-off that though he liked flying with a broomstick, he _loathed_ being up in the air in a plane. He knew – other than Ron – that a plane was suspended in the air without the help of magic, and that you had more chance of dying in a car than in the air like this, but he couldn't help but feel completely helpless and in the hands and trust of some unknown pilot. And the fact that he was sitting beside the window – Ron had refused to come near it, afraid it would suddenly open and suck him out – didn't exactly help. Nothing but endless waves rolled beneath them and in the distance, and instead of making him feel calmer, it made his stomach clench with every bump.

"Hey, prissy."

He glanced up, afraid that if he moved too fast the plane would crash. Ginny was staring down at him from her seat in front of him, her hair stuck back in a loose bun. She didn't look sick or scared at all. No: she looked as if Harry's misery was her one true pleasure in life. Harry had to fight the urge to shove some of the un-edible food in her face.

"I'm not a prissy."

"Yes, you are." She kept grinning at him. "I didn't know you were scared of flying?"

Fred rose from his seat, too, and turned his neck to wink at Harry. "Bad reputation to have, 'innit, for the youngest seeker of the century?"

"Shut up, Fred," Harry growled, and turned his attention away from them. Looking at their faces made him nauseous – nothing personal. "Shouldn't you sit down and buckle in?" he added quickly, not understanding how they could move around so easily without feeling their heart stammer in their throats, too.

Ginny gasped, and started giggling. "Oh, Fred, d'you hear that? He's concerned for us!"

He groaned, and decided to ignore them. Ron next to him wasn't saying a word – probably pretending to be asleep to avoid his siblings' teasing. He felt angry with them, but it wasn't just because they called him a prissy: it was because they were right. Wasn't he the boy who was supposed to be fearless? He escaped even _Voldemort,_ didn't he? He was indeed the youngest seeker in the century – so why felt being this high up in the air so scary? It didn't make sense, and it felt as Harry had accidentally borrowed someone else's guts.

Hermione, who was sitting right next to the aisle and next to Ron, bowed over their friend to Harry. "Harry," she was the only one who didn't sound mocking, "what's wrong?"

He sighed deeply, and tried to stare out of the window. Nothing but endless blue waves. A bit nauseated, he turned to his bushy-haired friend. "I don't know. I never felt like this in the air before."

Ron, suddenly awoken by Hermione almost sitting in his lap, turned to look at Harry, too. His eyebrows knitted. "Dude, I get that you're pissed, but you don't have to take it out on the chair."

"What'd you mean?"

He just nodded to Harry's hands as a response.

Harry looked down, and felt his stomach clench even more. He had been digging his nails deep into the fabric of the armrests, nearly ripping it apart in his desperate attempt to hold onto something. He quickly let go of it, and rubbed his hair out of his eyes. This all just didn't make sense: he felt ten years old again, shivering to keep standing in front of Uncle Vernon. What was _wrong_ with him?

"Well, maybe this will cheer you up." Hermione said suddenly, and Harry jerked his head up, hope in his eyes.

She grinned at him cheekily. "We're already halfway there."

He groaned, "Only halfway? Are you _kidding_ me?", as the rest of the Weasleys laughed (even Ron did, but that was short tempered, because at the first sign of turbulence he turned greenish with sickness again.)

 _-x-x-x-_

The flight took, to call it lightly, a long time.

Everyone fell asleep after a while; Ginny after watching a cheesy movie with her twin brothers (who'd been shouting abuse at every bad executed special effect involving magic) , Hermione had fallen asleep real easily with her head resting on Ron's shoulder, and he had been sleeping at the same time too, his mouth wide-open, drooling a bit out of the corner of it. Even Lupin, sitting across the aisle to keep an eye on them, had fallen asleep with _The Iliad_ on his chest.

The only one of the group – and to him it felt as if he was the only one on the whole plane – that hadn't slept was Harry. It had taken him until everyone had closed their eyes to grow the guts to dare to look out of the window. And after a while it got easier to watch the constant rise of the waves, and even calming. It made himself feel pretty small. The ocean was _big._ He'd never been to the ocean before, and he'd never truly grasped the concept of the saying 'endless', but for the first time in his life he felt himself looking at something that would be there until the end of time. The water rolled and glided and went on for miles, stretching into the darkening horizon, and slowly Harry felt his fastened heartbeat slow down.

But he only felt his stomach unclench the moment a brick-like sounding voice boomed through the speakers that they would be landing very soon in New York.

Ron stirred beside him, yawning with a big gesture before realizing the sleeping girl on his shoulder. He looked at Harry for an explanation, who just shrugged and smirked.

Ron seemed to debate in whether he wanted to wake the girl up, or push her slowly away so she wouldn't notice to spare them both loads of embarrassment. He decided to go for the first: which surprised Harry a bit. "For _heaven's_ – hey, Hermione? Wake up, we're there."

"Hmm?" She looked up, her eyes groggy with sleep, but they widened as soon as she realized she'd been sleeping on Ron's shoulder. She jumped up, pressing herself as far away as she could from him in the limited space they had. "Oh, sorry, Ron! I hadn't meant to –"

"It's fine," he said quickly, but he was blushing as much as she was.

Harry rolled his eyes, and pointed to the lighted sign above their heads. "Time to buckle up, guys."

The landing was worse than take off: Harry kept imagining them to suddenly crash into the very solid-looking ground beneath them, but they landed safely and without all too much trouble. Harry kept holding his breath until Hermione had unbuckled him, taken both his hands in her own and pushed him upwards to _just go._ He only felt truly reassured and whole again when his feet touched the ground, when he felt Lupin's reassuring hands on his shoulder.

"You okay, Harry?"

He nodded. Without the fear clenching his stomach, he felt ashamed. "Yeah. Fine." He looked up to see Lupin smiling down at him, as if suddenly seeing someone he used to know. "Uh, Lupin? What's –"

Lupin's smile disappeared, and he waved it off. "Nothing. It's just that your father was just as frightened as you were. We once took a flight to –"

"Professor!" came Ginny's voice suddenly, and Lupin cut off quickly.

Harry got the feeling that Lupin was glad that Ginny called him: he always seemed saddened whenever he mentioned Harry's parents. But didn't Lupin understand that Harry needed every detail, even if it was something embarrassing, as if it felt like he knew his parents as well as anyone else did?

"Okay," Lupin waved at the children. "Same plan as last time. You guys pick up Sirius from the platform, and you three stay with me – "

"Professor," Ron interrupted, "we don't need to be all that cautious anymore, do we? We're in America – _You-Know-Who_ isn't likely to just pop out behind one of those tourists," he waved at an old British couple complaining loudly to a service-worker.

"England is just one apparation away," he just said darkly, and sighed. "And call me Remus. Let's split up, and meet each other here in half an hour."

 _-x-x-x-_

Finally, finally, they were driving again, away from the crowded and chaotic airport. The twins were chanting in the back of the car they'd rented, tossing over a ball that looked remarkably like a frizzling star. Ginny kept trying to take the ball from them, but she was giggling and smiling and pushing them around – she wasn't really interested in disrupting their game. Even Hermione was eyeing them in amusement rather than scolding.

It was as if the excitement of the trip had finally settled in.

The muggle environment and the weirdness of traveling with a plane had sort of distracted the whole family from realizing that they were finally there: in _America_ – and that for a good solid two weeks. Even Sirius couldn't help but bark every few minutes loudly, wagging his tail. His flight hadn't been great – he hadn't been able to answer Harry's concern, but it had been obvious in Sirius' big blue and frightened eyes that the flight for him was just as pleasurable as it had been to Harry. Maybe even worse.

" _Mon-Montauk at sea, how we love thee, Mon-Monny-Montauk at night, after a long-long flight – "_

"Shut up!" Lupin bellowed over his shoulder to try and concentrate on the road, but he was smiling. Even he was grinning more than Harry had ever seen him do; it almost made all the grey streaks in his hair disappear a little.

"What –" Hermione winced when Lupin suddenly stopped without a warning. "What are we actually going to do for two weeks? I mean, we can't exactly go to New York, that's way too dangerous, and –"

"Cheer up, Hermione," Ron groaned. "We're away from that depressing house for two weeks, no offense Sirius,"

Sirius barked, as if to say, _none taken._

"And," he continued, pointing at the road beside them. It was covered in trees, and the sea was barely to be seen from the fast-moving car, but it was noticeable every now and then. "we're staying close to the sea! The _sea_ Hermione! And we've got our brooms and everything – I don't believe we're going to get bored very soon."

She didn't answer, and just gazed out of the window to look at the foreign land.

Harry joined her too, and found out that – until now – America didn't seem all that different from England. Sure, the people were driving on the wrong side of the road and the trees looked different, but other than that, nothing. Maybe the difference lay in the cities and that sort of stuff?

Trees and big plains shot by, even a strawberry farm – hold up, is that a –?

"What the – !" Harry shot up in his seat, his head colliding with the roof. He ignored the pain and everyone turning to him and asking him what was wrong, and instead he tried to open the window frantically to be able to see what had spooked him more clearly. Within seconds, however, the big tree was gone. The car had moved too fast to be able to see it right. Still, Harry kept glaring outside as if it would come back.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

He shook his head dismissively. He was either really, really sleepy and hallucinating, or he _had_ seen a huge dragon guarding the tree at the end of the strawberry farm. He shook his head again, this time rubbing his hands in his eyes. "Are there any dragons in America?"

It suddenly grew very quiet in the rented car. "I'm sorry, what?" George asked after a while.

"Dragons." Harry repeated, and looked up to see the whole group staring at him as if he'd gone mad. "I wondered if there were – never mind." He must've imagined it. Surely. (Besides, the dragon he'd seen looked nothing like the dragons he knew in the wizarding world.)

Before Hermione could open her mouth Lupin shouted: "Guys! We're there."

Harry's mental instability momentarily forgotten: everyone suddenly jumped up and turned to the window on their right. Beautiful old and wooden cabins were waiting for them, gazing as mighty gods upon the sea beyond. Even Harry forgot about the dragon he had or had not seen: it was simply too beautiful.

Hermione sighed. "Oh, it's gorgeous."

"It truly is, isn't it?" Fred said. "I can't wait to take my broom and fly."

Harry nodded in agreement, suddenly longing for his Firebolt and the feeling of flying above those waves. Never mind that dragon and that strawberry farm: it wasn't important.

 _How very wrong he was._

 **X**

 **Right. That's chapter three, y 'all! Review if you like it!**

 **(Fun fact: while writing this, I couldn't get one particular song out of my head.. something along the lines of… being sick of summer and this waiting around?** ** _…_** **thanks, Starkid.)**


	4. One Quaffle too far

**Chapter 4**

 **One Quaffle Too Far**

Harry Potter was positive that there wasn't a thing in the world that was better than flying – on a broom, mind – shooting over dark waves and white beaches with the salted wind in his hair and eyes and lungs. He had left the cabin as soon as he could, not even staying long enough to see Sirius transform back in his usual lanky self. He didn't even listen to the Weasleys making plans to play a Quidditch match before dinner: no. He had snatched his broom, and ran off into the night.

This whole summer had sucked.

Maybe it was just him, or puberty or something, but something had been going on for a while now with his constantly shifting moods. He was always ready to blow, ready to start shouting at the next person who, essentially, didn't do anything wrong. Until last June he was kind of… chill… with an exception now and then. He'd even been able to keep his cool when facing Quirrel in his first year. Those last two months, however, had been a rollercoaster of constant self-pity and anger at everyone around him. Nothing had been able to make him feel better, not even seeing his two best friends again. (At least, he didn't think shouting at them counted as a 'warm welcome'?)

But now, flying free in the air, completely weightless… it was liberating.

And he started shouting and laughing in the night, hearing his voice carry across the ocean. For a second he wondered if the people – and most of all, Voldemort – could hear him having a good time all the way down in England.

"Oy, Potter!"

Strangely reminded of Draco, Harry quickly turned around and stopped shouting. A figure was shooting towards him, but because his Firebolt was quicker than most brooms he knew, that figure had no chance to catch up with him. So he slowed down, and let the red-headed girl approach him steadily.

Ginny was smiling broadly. "Nice set of lungs you've got there."

He thanked every god he knew that it was too dark for her to see his reddened cheeks. "Yeah… thanks."

They flew in silence for a while, both staring at the bright silver stars mirrored on the black sea.

Harry thought he wanted to be alone – at least, a few minutes ago he was all too happy flying on his own – but he didn't mind Ginny's company at all. The girl was easy to be around.

"So," she said after a while. "What d'you think?"

"Of what?"

She slowly dragged her gaze to his. The white of her eyes shone in the dark, and Harry didn't lose sight of them. "Of that dragon you saw."

His hands started to shake a little, and he thanked god – again – for the darkness. "I didn't –"

"You did. I saw your expression in the cab, Harry, and I've only seen you frightened like that once or twice."

"I'm not frightened of a dragon. You _do_ remember I fought one last year?"

Ginny grinned, and Harry had to look away to the sea again. "As I recall correctly, there wasn't any fighting involved." Before he could react, she laughed, and nudged his broom softly with her leg. "If you'd ask me, you flew away from it."

"I didn't – fine." He rolled his eyes. "Maybe _you_ had a brilliant idea of going past that dragon to snatch his egg, but all I did was make do!"

"I had a few ideas, actually," she said playfully, but her voice turned serious once again. "But don't change the subject. You saw a dragon by that farm, didn't you?"

He didn't answer for a while.

While flying under the cloudless night sky it was kind of hard to imagine that he had seen a huge fire breathing dragon guarding a simple pine-tree. It was actually easy to forget everything bad that ever happened. He gazed at the endless waves for a few seconds before turning his gaze to Ginny again. She had a solemn expression on her face – one he was sure echoed his own – and her flaming red hair was dancing in the wind. For a minute he had trouble finding his voice, but he swallowed whatever was stuck in his throat and said: "Yes."

She turned her face. Her brown eyes were almost black now. "You want to check it out?"

His first reaction was, _are you flipping mental?_ But then he remember that he was looking at the youngest of the Weasleys. Of course her first instinct at the sight of a dragon was to go even nearer to it. "Kind of," he admitted reluctantly and she grinned, "But we're supposed to lay low. I kind of guessed visiting a dragon isn't on Lupin's to-do list here."

She giggled, and looked away again, slightly disappointed. "Want to fly back to the cabin and play a game of Quidditch? I kind of promised to come and fetch you."

"I'm not a dog!"

"No, that's Sirius."

They locked gazes, stayed silent for a few seconds, and then started laughing at the same time, their sound carrying across the blue-black waves.

 _-x-x-x-_

"Glad you could join us, lightning scar!"

"Don't call me that," Harry snarled at a smiling George while he landed on the beach. Ginny landed softly beside him, but 'accidentally' whacked her broom in her big brother's face. She ducked away before George could take revenge, smiling brightly at Harry before joining Hermione's spot on the beach.

"Let's do this," Ron eagerly said, and tossed the Quaffle a few times in the air. "Warm-up first?"

Hermione looked up from Charlie's broom she'd borrowed. "I know I already said this, but we really should listen to Professor Lupin's advice and go to bed! We _need_ to get accustomed to –"

"We don't ' _need_ ' to suffer from a jetlag, Hermione." Ron said. "We all slept on the plane, we're in bloody America,"

"Mind you language!" Fred said in a tone that strangely resembled his mother's, and Harry couldn't stifle a snort.

"So," Ron continued after glaring at Fred, "it isn't really going to work to sleep now, isn't it? And the best thing we could possibly do is tire ourselves out so we _can_ go to bed, right? So Quidditch is the best thing we could do, _right?"_

She sighed. "It's a bit warped logic – but okay."

They started doing a warm-up that reminded Harry all too much of the training his old Quidditch coach Oliver Wood had always prepared for them: and it made his stomach ache with his longing to go back to Hogwarts. Even the commands the Weasley twins made – using the same words and intonation Wood always did – didn't really make the homesickness go away.

But Harry sucked it up and played along, and after a while he forgot about the hearing and everything else: and he laughed just as hard as the rest did when Hermione accidentally threw the Quaffle right on Ron's nose.

Ron quickly discovered – though stayed out of reach whenever the blushing Hermione was holding the Quaffle again – and the game went on again. He passed the Quaffle to Fred, who passed it to Ginny, who passed it to Harry – who had to make a loop to catch it and kicked it to Hermione in the same move. Ginny whispered, ' _show-off'_ under her breath, and Harry just smirked.

After half an hour of just passing it on they started playing the real thing. Fred and Hermione had sided with Harry, and Ginny was gazing down upon the green-eyed boy with a mischievous glance in her eyes that made Harry feel a bit uneasy.

Though Ginny was better than he'd expected – he would later learn that she'd secretly been practicing with one of her brother's brooms whenever they weren't around because she wanted to be a player one day – his team was winning. They had made three posts by drawing them on the sand, which meant they had to fly pretty low to the sand, which demanded precise skill to not crash onto it constantly. (Something which Hermione was constantly doing, though she didn't really seem to mind.)

Everything was just all fun and games until Fred cried out suddenly; "Potter, watch out!"

He lifted his head curiously, and ducked.

Fred had thrown the Quaffle a bit too enthusiastic to Harry, so hard that if Harry hadn't had the quick instincts of a seeker, he would've been smacked of his broom. Instead the Quaffle shot off towards the woods close-by, with such speed it made Harry wonder if the ball was ever going to touch the ground.

"Oh, _sorry_ –"

Fred's apology was lost in the sudden wind.

Harry had shot off after the Quaffle. He knew he'd be the fastest – _thanks, Sirius_ – and if they lost the ball now, it was lost forever. It was too dark to search for it, and who knew where it would land?

So instead he just flew right behind it, trying to catch up with the spinning ball a few feet before him. He ignored the high trees behind him, he ignored the cutting cold sea-wind: he felt as if he was in a Quidditch game again, chasing the – this time a bit bigger – ball.

He was almost there.

Harry leaned forward, his eyes narrowing.

Just a few inches more.

He stretched his arm forward, his fingertips almost touching the Quaffle. _Just one inch more…_

 _WHAM._

The tree came out of nowhere.

Harry yelled out in shock rather than pain, and tried to grab hold onto something. Branches were everywhere, slapping his glasses off, cutting up his arms and legs and cheeks, sticking in his hair and almost pulling the Firebolt from his legs.

And suddenly the pain stopped.

He groaned. He'd landed – finally – on the cold floor, his broom still between his legs and the Quaffle clenched in his right hand. He'd lost his glasses and couldn't feel his wand in his back pocket, but he was alive. That was something. "Great," he muttered under his breath, trying to scramble back upright. "Just peachy."

He squinted around. He'd apparently crashed into a huge pine tree – and that hadn't gone all too quietly. All around him were broken branches and leaves, and he was sure that there were twigs sticking in his hair.

Really thankful that nobody had seen that – and that he hadn't broken anything – he started searching for his glasses, feeling around, and found them rather quickly. They weren't smashed, though a bit askew, but he was sure his godfather or Lupin could fix that. His luck must've grown overnight, because even his wand was laying not far away from him.

It wasn't until he'd put on his glasses that he'd realized he wasn't alone.

There were ten, maybe eleven, teenagers his age staring at him, their mouths wide open.

And they weren't normal.

Not that he should speak, as a wizard currently holding a broom-stick and a wand, but it felt as if he had suddenly traveled in time. They were all wearing armor – Greek or Roman-like armor – with capes and everything. The big red capes were strapped with chaotic and difficult-looking patterns over their chests, and even their knee-caps didn't seem to come from this century. Some of them were even armed with swords and bows that seemed to glow faintly in the dark: and all of their weapons were aimed at his head. Maybe they were teenagers like he was, but they looked hostile, ready to kill him for even trying to hurt the – _apparently very important_ – tree.

"Uh," he asked, slowly lowering his broom-stick but not his wand, "who are you guys?"

A boy stepped forward.

And Harry staggered. It was like he was looking in a mirror. The scrawny but slightly muscled guy looked _exactly_ like him. He had stuck-up-in-the-back black hair like he did, the same calculating green eyes – at least, it seemed so in the moonlight – and even the way the boy was holding himself seemed to remind him of… well, himself. The boy was maybe a year or two older, and a little taller, but other than that it was as if he was looking at a perfect copy.

"I am Perseus Jackson," the boy said slowly, the edge of his weirdly shaped bronze sword still pointing at Harry's face, "but the real question is: who _the hades_ are you?"

 **X**

 **Chapter four!**

 **Let me know what you think.**

 **Bye, bye, darlings.**


	5. Meeting the Neighbors

**Chapter 5:**

 **Meeting The Neighbors**

Harry was kind of used of getting shoved around and threatened. He had lived under the constant threat of Voldemort wanting him, he had lived with the Dursley's for years, he had escaped Dementors, he had thought for a whole year a mass-murderer was out to get him, he had fought off a dragon and he was supposed to face his parents' murderer someday. But for some strange reason, these children felt different.

And it wasn't anger nor fear: because even though the tip of 'Perseus'' sword was an inch away from his nose, he knew the guy wouldn't just stab him right in the face. They all looked as curious and daunting as he was. No; they had a kind of vibe that felt… odd. "Listen," Harry began slowly, never wavering his wand just as the guy wasn't moving his sword, "I'm sorry I crashed into that tree, but it sort of came out of nowhere. I'm sorry if I offended anyone –"

A girl with jet-black hair snorted loud. Her eyes were almost shimmering in the dark: such a pale blue that Harry found himself distracted. For some reason he thought that she and Sirius would get along: she was carelessly beautiful, but obviously punk, and wouldn't hesitate to gut him or anyone who was pissing her off. "None taken."

"Thalia," snapped his look-a-like, never once taking his eye of Harry. "Not now."

Harry's eyes snapped back to Perseus again. He had to give it to the guy: he was killing the _make a move and I'll slash your throat_ look. "I have to go," he said as casually as possible, ignoring the curiosity burning in his stomach, "if I'm not back soon, my friends are going to get seriously –"

"Friends?" This time, Perseus showed some other emotion than hostility: he looked angry. "There are more of… whatever you are?"

"I'm just a kid! I'm not some…" he glanced at the kids again, "Greek or Roman enemy! I don't know what kind of camp you go to, but if you just put away that shining sword of yours –"

"How did you know that we are Greek?" A girl's voice asked, but Harry didn't look up this time to see who it was. The girl's voice sounded old, but for some reason he knew that she was just as old as he was.

Harry didn't answer, and just clutched his wand tighter. "We don't have to –"

"Answer the girl." Perseus snarled. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess?" Harry joked, but jumped a little when Perseus leaned in closer with his sword. "Okay, okay, bad timing, sorry!" He put up his hands, and ignored the blue-eyed girl laughing in the background. "Your armory just looks ancient, that's all. I don't know you guys. I just happened to see that tree a bit too late."

Perseus' eyes glanced up to Harry's hair, surely seeing all the twigs and leaves in his hair, and for the first time he saw a hint of a smirk on the boy's face. But it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared. "You still haven't answered my first question. Who are you?"

 _They aren't wizards,_ Harry thought, sighing deeply. If they had been Death Eaters – not that it was likely, but you could never be too careful – they would've surely recognized him by now. "I'm – not important. I just want to –"

Something rumbled in the distance. Was that thunder? "Answer the question!"

"Fine." Harry ruffled his hair nervously. "I'm Harry Potter."

The reaction was… silence. No gasps, no 'you're _Harry Potter?'_ , or any other reaction he would've expected of wizards. Not even a hint of recognition was seen on Perseus' face, the same reaction he would've had if Harry had said his name was John Smith.

This was all so _confusing_. He had already established that they weren't wizards and witches: but they weren't muggles, either. Because the longer he stared at Perseus, the longer he grew convinced that the guy wasn't mortal. He vibrated something powerful, something that made him want to run far away and never look back.

For the first time that night Harry wished he had Hermione beside him to whisper some explanations in his ear.

"Nice name," someone said in the background, and a few people giggled.

"Thanks," Harry said softly, which caused more people to laugh.

"Enough!" Perseus said, lowering his sword a bit. The fact that he was the leader of this… gang… was obvious to Harry. They fell silent every time he talked, they all looked up to him to see what to do next, and they listened to him. If they'd made him a leader out of respect or fear wasn't clear to Harry yet: but something told him it was a bit of both. "You crossed our border."

"I already said sorry for crashing –"

"I don't _care_ about the tree!" Perseus snapped.

The blue-eyed girl – Thalia – gasped. "Hey!"

Perseus rolled his eyes, the first humane action Harry had seen him do. "Sorry, Thals." She huffed, but he just went on. "The fact is, Harry Potter, that there runs a border over there." He pointed somewhere behind them with his sword, almost cutting Harry's cheek in the process. "And mortals aren't supposed to be able to cross it."

"Mortals?"

Perseus ignored him. "That means you must be a _half-blood_."

And _that_ was the thing that ticked Harry off. It wasn't the ambush, it wasn't the weapons nor the hostility: it was the fact that this guy was just another prejudiced kid who had no idea what he was talking about. And the way Perseus had said 'half-blood': as if it was a curse, something which he feared pronouncing.

Harry ignored the burning sensation of fury brewing in his stomach, and swatted the sword away with his wand. "Who the hell do you think you are?" He snarled angrily, and suppressed a smirk when he saw that Perseus looked too confused to react. "Have you got any idea how prejudiced and stupid you sound right now? A friend of mine, one of the best wi– I mean, _people_ I know, had to fight for her place among our world – hard! She's still fighting the hate of those who think that only because they're pure-blood they're better than she is! Our whole _war_ started, hundreds of people died, only because _one man_ thought half-bloods and muggleborns were unworthy! You probably have no idea how hateful you just sounded. ' _You must be a half-blood'_ ; It makes me sick."

The whole group of teenagers was quiet. Harry was positive none of them had expected his sudden outburst. He threw his Firebolt behind him, and pointed his wand and no one in particular. "Well? _Are you_?"

"Are we what?" Perseus asked softly.

"Prejudiced, hateful, abhorrent people, who enjoy –"

His look-a-like shook his head. "No, we aren't. I have no idea what you are talking about, and I've never heard of ' _muffleborns_ ' before –"

"Muggleborns," Harry corrected automatically.

"But I think you misunderstood. We," he gestured to the kids around him, "are all half-bloods as well. That's the reason we can pass the border, the same way you could."

Harry wanted to start his rant again, but relented. Curiosity got the better of him. "But you guys are muggles."

"We're what?"

Harry had to fight the urge to face-palm himself. This conversation was going nowhere. He had no idea what that Perseus was talking about, and vice versa. It was like they were speaking in different languages. "This is going nowhere," he muttered, and strangely he heard Perseus whisper ' _this is hopeless'_ at the same time.

A girl – who Harry had initially thought to be a guy because she was as buffy as the nearest bull – scratched her throat. "Am I the only one who thinks we should just maim this guy and be over with it?"

Harry clutched his wand tighter. He wasn't scared – he had his wand to defend himself it need be – but he didn't exactly like being threatened. "I don't want to fight you guys, I just want to grab my broom and go!"

"That's exactly what I mean!" She waved her dangerous-looking spear around, and a few teenagers jumped away quickly. "Does _anyone_ hear him? His _broom?_ Are we in freaking Oz?"

"They've got no brooms in Oz," a blond-haired tall guy said dryly on her side, and she nudged him. She must've been strong, because the guy slammed into the ground with such a loud _hump_ that it caused a mini-earthquake.

"Take his broom." Someone suddenly said.

Harry pointed his wand to the source of the sound. "Don't you dare."

The girl he was staring at was the same who had questioned his knowledge about them being Greek. Her blonde hair was woven into a ponytail, some curls had slipped out. She looked like the kind of girl you'd see on warm beaches and in commercials, the giggling and innocent Californian kind – if it wasn't for her strange and frightening grey eyes. She stared at him as if she was analyzing every last bit of him, from the branches in his disheveled black hair to his worn-out shoes, and didn't like what she was seeing at all.

Perseus was the leader… but this girl was definitely in charge.

"Okay," she said, narrowing her eyes slightly, "you're a half-blood, that much is obvious. Otherwise you wouldn't have been able to cross our border. Yet you _flew,_ on a broom. You're holding a wooden stick, which I am to guess is a wand?"

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Are you seriously suggesting that this guy is a _wizard_? I thought you were supposed to be the logical one here."

"We're half-bloods, Thalia. Do you seriously believe that our world is the only strange one out there?"

"Quit saying half-blood like that!" red sparks sparked out of Harry's wand, and he inhaled deeply to calm himself. He didn't see all the eyes widening, and he didn't hear the gasps: all he saw was the fact that Perseus had lowered his sword. Harry's heart slowed to a regular pace for the first time in what felt like hours. "Can you guys at least tell me something, other than the fact that I'm apparently dangerous? Like: what is this border you keep talking about? Why is it there? Who created it? Why can you cross it, if you aren't wi-, I mean, if you aren't the same as I am?"

"I'll answer those questions for you," the grey-eyed one said, but she didn't look happy about it. Harry had the feeling she was just as curious as he was. "We," she gestured around her, "are half-bloods. Fighters of Olympus. We keep within this border to be safe of the dangers out there." She waved carelessly with her dagger behind Harry. "It was created a very long time ago. And like Percy over there said," she nudged with her chin to Perseus, "only half-bloods are able to cross it. Half humans."

Harry grew restless. Sure, she was answering her questions, but that made him even more confused. "Olympus? Isn't that in Greece? And – hold up. Wait." He held up his hand. " _Half_ -humans?"

"Yes." Thalia said. It was obvious that she growing bored by this whole conversation. "Humans can mix with other creatures, I'm sure you've heard of a few?"

For some strange reason Harry was immediately reminded of Lupin. "Yes, but I'm still not –"

She blabbed on, totally ignoring him. "Centaurs, Satyrs, that sort of stuff. They're able to cross. And then you've got the more strange mixes: per example the humans and the go-"

"THALIA!" this time multiple people bellowed at her to shut up. "Enough!" Perseus's - Percy's? – voice was the loudest. "We don't know this guy and I don't think we should tell him about us!"

Harry rubbed his eyes. "Fine, then don't tell me. But at least let me go! I _promise_ to not go and look for you guys: I'm positive I wouldn't even find this place again tomorrow."

Perseus and the grey-eyed one shared a look, something which reminded Harry so much of Hermione and Ron that he started to feel home-sick for his friends already. "We can't," Perseus suddenly said, and he nudged to his friends, as if giving an order.

That silent nod. Harry's heart grew suddenly cold with fear: as if he knew what was going to happen, while unable to move. His eyes widened, and he felt his legs shake – and still he was unable to do much more than just stare at Perseus wide-eyed.

"This isn't personal," His look-a-like added quickly when a tall guy suddenly jumped on Harry from behind – he hadn't even heard him sneak up on him – and grabbed the wand from his grip, "it's just that I'm not that trusting anymore."

Harry screamed for his wand, and tried to fight the tight hold he was in.

It hadn't even been a proper fight: it all had happened way too quickly. He hadn't even been able to shout a single curse or hex at someone, let alone block the punches or run away. Yet his own discomfort at the moment didn't really seem to matter, only one thing did: his wand.

 _His wand…_ it was as if they had chopped off a very important limb. It had been his only defense, his only chance at getting away from this group.

The guy behind him was huge, at least a foot taller than he was, and he was holding him so tightly it was as if Harry was surrounded by steady rocks. No matter how much he was kicking and biting and moving the guy wouldn't budge.

He stopped moving, however, when he saw his wand. The grey-eyed girl was holding it, far away from his reach, and she was examining it as if it was a new experiment. Not something that had saved Harry's life so many times: not something on which Harry depended so much. He knew that without it… he was hopeless.

With the hint of tears in his eyes he saw the grey-eyed girl walking away with it, along with his broom and the Quaffle. He was suddenly pushed down to his knees not all too gently, and Perseus came closer.

It was dark and cold, and Harry felt scared, but the look Perseus was giving him wasn't hatred or anger: it was _pity_. Perseus seemed to examine his face, as if trying to look for something that would give him some more information, as if trying to decide whether Harry was dangerous or not.

 _Please, believe my innocence,_ he pleaded with his eyes. He knew that if he opened his mouth now, he would break the moment. _Let me go._

And after a few seconds of intense staring Perseus looked over his shoulder, and ordered: "Take him to Chiron."

 **X**

 **Hello, darlings.**

 **As to some of your questions:**

 **I wasn't able to keep the ages in canon. As you all know, Harry's adventures all happen in the 90s, making it impossible for him to meet Percy at the age of fifteen. I instead let him stumble into camp the summer after Kronos is defeated. (Meaning, the last thing that has happened to the Percy in this fic is the Best Underwater Kiss of All Time). I try to update every two or three days. Yes, I keep my chapters short. Blame my inspiration, homework and work in general.**

 **Let me know what you think!**

 **(Seriously – feedback is highly appreciated!)**


	6. Trial with Horses and Fire

**Chapter 6:**

 **Trial with Horses and Fire**

 _This isn't going all too well._

Harry was mentally punishing himself for not flying away earlier – or even attempt to fight. He should've stunned them, even though he wasn't supposed to do magic out of school, even though he was already on probation by the ministry… everything was better than being dragged into camp by the muscled and weirdly smelling girl who had voted for killing him earlier on. She had just flung him over her shoulder, as if he weighed nothing, and had set of for some unknown destination in the dark woods.

Harry had no idea where they were going, all he knew was that they were walking further and further away from the place where his friends were waiting for him.

How on earth was he going to escape out of this one? If the teenagers had been right – even though it was sickening – and only half-bloods could cross, how on earth were his pureblooded friends and Hermione going to cross the border? He was stuck with this armored kids, destined to stare at the dark ground and the derriere of the dark-haired girl.

"Let me go," he demanded for the thousandth time, and for the thousandth time, he was ignored.

They were silently moving down-hill towards something, and the longer they walked the warmer it got, as if they were heading towards a place with fire. For a minute Harry thought that they were going to roast and eat him – but then he remember that this wasn't some lame cannibalistic movie. This was real. Those swords and arrows and clothing – was the girl wearing an orange shirt underneath her armor? – were real and dangerous, too.

The world got brighter and brighter, until Harry could finally see the leaves and tiny rocks on the ground. He figured they had reached whatever destination they were headed, because without warning the girl just lifted him up and pushed him on the ground, her hand in his hair to keep him there.

"You can let go now!" he groaned, trying to duck from her grip. It didn't seem to work; her grip only grew tighter and Harry had to bite his lip to stop the groan. He hated the fact that he felt so weak and vulnerable – the girl was subduing him without only one hand! "I won't run, I'm not an idiot."

"That's debatable," she countered with a wicked grin, and he snarled at her.

Knowing fighting wouldn't work, Harry instead looked around.

And his jaw dropped.

He had expected some sort of camp, sure, with tiny wooden cabins and a campfire with someone roasting marshmallows.

This place, however…

It was amazing. Every single building – due to the bad lighting of the fire it was impossible to see how many of them were there – was big, unique and beautiful in its own way. Right on the other side of the fire were two enormous houses, seemingly intimidating, and the houses on his side – though smaller – were impressive, too. He couldn't move his head due to the girl's firm grip on it, but he did his best. The house where he was staring at was made of marble; and fit right in his assumption that the kids had something remotely Greek in them. (Or at least an obsession with its culture.) The other big cabin however was slimmer and more elegant; and beautiful marble flowers were decorating the columns. Somehow Harry got the idea that it belonged to a woman – the building sort of had a graceful aura.

Before he could try and look around some more, his attention snapped back to the fire.

Percy was standing in front of it, his hands behind his back and his sword gone.

The longer Harry stared at him, the less he became convinced that Percy looked exactly like him. Sure, they both had the same hair – maybe it was just stylish here in America or something? – and they both had green eyes, but Percy was so… dangerous. Otherworldly. He had a vibe that made Harry want to run, and he was pretty sure that people always thought _him_ to be harmless. Other than that, last year people sort of shunned Harry out – that happened at least a dozen times at Hogwarts already, he was used to it by now – but there wasn't a single person in the crowd around them that didn't look up at Percy.

"Chiron is on his way," a small boy came running, breathing hard. His eyes were huge, and his helmet was a little too big for him, as if it had been a gift from an older brother. He kept shifting it upwards, and though Harry knew he shouldn't care for his abductors, he couldn't help but think the boy reminded him of Colin from school. He didn't look dangerous or as an enemy: he was just a little kid.

"Thanks," Percy muttered.

The pretty blond girl walked towards him, and they started whispering in hushed tones to each other, occasionally glancing in Harry's direction.

Harry's gaze turned upward. The stars were, though a little blocked by the firelight, clearly visible from where he was sitting. Sure, flying over the sea an hour ago – wow, a lot had happened in an hour – had been peaceful, but the sky hadn't been cloudless. Here, however.. it was the clearest sky he had ever seen. Even the moon, though hardly full yet, was shining as a big ball of light in the sky, illuminating the forest around them.

And then, suddenly, Harry's gaze snapped back. He'd heard something familiar; something he had only ever heard in the forbidden forest…

A centaur.

He groaned inwardly. A centaur was their leader? Really? That only meant that his fate was decided by some philosophical being gazing up at Mars saying how bright it was – and even though he had nothing against Firenze, Harry wasn't really in the right mood for a long debate about the planets.

"Chiron," Percy spoke, as if speaking to a father. "I'm sorry we had to wake you, but –"

The centaur waved his concern away.

Harry quirked his brow. The centaur looked nothing like he was used to.

Not that this centaur didn't have a massive body of a horse, or didn't have a bow strapped to his muscled torso – because he had – but his face looked so humane it was difficult to see him as the same people he met in the forbidden forest. His huge beard and hairdo even looked familiar, and Harry got the strange feeling as though he should know the guy… as if he had met him before… but that couldn't be… right?

Percy gestured to Harry. "This guy crashed into Thalia's tree, with a flying broom."

If this hadn't been so serious, Harry would've laughed at the look on Chiron's face. "A _what_?"

"A flying broom!" Percy waved at a person in the crowd, who immediately held up Harry's Firebolt.

Harry grumbled. Just seeing someone holding his most prized possession as if it was a dangerous weapon made him want to knock the guy out. Sirius had given it to him, and if these kids managed to destroy it…

"How ingenious," the centaur just said, his voice deep and impressed, and he held his hand open to receive it and examine it. The blackness of his broom seemed to be even more noticeable in the firelight, and the centaur held it high to be seen by everyone. The children around him were staring at it in awe, and Harry was sure he was dreaming by now.

They weren't muggles. They hadn't seen a broom in their life, and they didn't have wands. They didn't believe in wizards. And yet they had a centaur in their midst?

"Is it an invention by Daedalus?" Asked the blonde girl, slowly walking closer to the broom, never taking her gaze of it. Her murderous and impressive look had changed into a curious one; a look that was familiar to Harry – for Hermione wore it as if was her own pride and joy every time she learned something new. "It certainly isn't magical or something."

Harry snorted, but was silenced by a hard tug on his hair.

 _God_ , he cursed inwardly, why was his hair so sensitive?

Chiron twisted it around, let it jump from one hand to another, as if expecting it to shoot sparks or do something else. Nothing happened, and he seemed disappointed.

He handed the broom back to the blonde tall kid who'd been holding it before, and he sighed deeply. "He flew on that broom, but it doesn't seem to be fueled or steered by some sort of engine, it's just a stick. Are you sure he flew?"

"Positive." The blonde girl said gravely, and held up a little stick.

Harry's heart gave a little jolt – his wand!

This time a glint of recognition slid over the centaur's face, but it was gone before Harry blinked again.

"Is this what I think it is?" he said in a soft tone, but it was heard all across the little yard.

Perseus's eyebrows knitted together. "It's definitely a wand, and he shot red sparks out it earlier, but it doesn't really seem dangerous, does it? I mean, no offense, but his weapon is a wooden stick? It's just so confusing."

Harry rolled his eyes. _No kidding._

"Sure, I've been handling living myths for a while now," he continued casually, "but wizards? Surely this must be some sort of prank, or a way of monsters trying to infiltrate camp?"

"Monsters?" Snorted Harry, ignoring the loud pulling on his hair. "Do I look like a monster to you?"

The centaur's eyes snapped to Harry for the first time since he had arrived here.

And the man's mouth fell open. "No, it can't be…"

Every eye fell on Harry again, and he tried to look brave and strong – not at all as if a girl was holding him down with one hand. The centaur looked stricken, as if he had just seen a ghost, but Harry was positive that he didn't really know who he was… Like, did people know about his tale in America as well? Was this guy living undercover with these children, knowing about the wizarding world but keeping it a secret? But if that was the case – why hadn't he shown any recognition with the broom?

"What did you say his name was?" He asked suddenly, and Perseus quirked a brow.

"I didn't. But his name is Harry Potter."

The centaur – Chiron – looked as if Perseus had just confirmed his worst fears. He eyed Harry for a few more seconds, examining every last bit of him with a stern gaze that could be a thousand years old, before turning to the blonde girl. "Why have you taken him into camp?"

She looked taken aback. "What d'you mean?"

"He isn't a half-blood," Chiron said, and Harry's eyes narrowed. "You should have let him go. But now…" he shook his head solemnly. "Now he's seen too much."

"C'mon, Chiron!" Perseus complained, waving his arms around. It was obvious that the guy was tired. "We couldn't have let him fly away again, could we? He had a _wand,_ and he'd seen us! He crossed our border! That must mean something, right? And you _know_ who he is, Chiron – I'm not an idiot,"

"Well, that's a first," said the blue-eyed girl who went by the name Thalia, but she was silenced by one glare from Perseus.

"I saw your face just now." Perseus insisted, not backing down from getting an answer from the centaur.

Chiron pushed his hair back, and Harry got the feeling it was the same nervous tick he had. "He resembles you, Percy. He's your perfect copy, and you know as well as I do that you resemble your father –"

"Don't bring my father into this," Perseus snapped. "He's not – Harry can't be…"

"Whatever you two are insinuating," Harry called, and watched every head turn back to him, "I don't know why I look like Perseus over there, all right? My dad was James Potter, and he lived in England, as did I – but I'm sure you've noticed by my accent? I look like _him_. And," he added, turning to Chiron this time and swallowing his dread, "about me seeing too much – what have I seen, then, that I shouldn't have? Sure, you've got some impressive cabins here, but that's all! If you would just give me back my wand and Firebolt –"

"Your _what_?"

Harry blushed. "I mean my broom. I'll just go, and won't come back."

"It isn't that easy, I'm afraid." Chiron took a deep breath. "Percy over here decided to bring you into camp, and thereby sealed your faith. I had been waiting for this to happen, but I had hoped it wouldn't come to pass.."

"What are you talking –"

Chiron held up his hand, and the blonde girl quickly shut up.

Harry had enough. "Listen to me!" he bellowed, trying to find every bit of courage and anger in him. He was tired, he hadn't slept for almost a day and night, and he missed his friends. He wanted out of here. He knew that if they kept him here, his friends would grow worried sick – Sirius would surely feel guilty and lose it. And he didn't want to be responsible for something his godfather might do in his recklessness. "You have to let me go! I'm _Harry Potter_ , and you can't just keep me here! My friends – my _family_ – will come to search for me! I won't do you any harm, I promise! I'll even make an Unbreakable Vow – anything! Just let me go, even if it's just for your own sake!"

The centaur's eyes were suddenly full of an emotion Harry loathed with all his heart: pity.

And Harry's heart sunk deep into his stomach. One look into Chiron's eyes, and he knew they weren't going to let him go. His joy of going on a vacation to America was crushed – but really, shouldn't he have expected it, knowing his bad luck?

"I can't," Chiron said. He ignored the two teenagers protesting at his side. "I'm afraid we haven't got a choice. Your arrival was predicted, and who am I to fight the Oracle on her wisdom?"

 **X**

 **Chapter six!**

 **Yes. Short. Complaining about it isn't going to change the fact that the past chapters were short, this one is too, as will future chapters be. I write whenever and for how long I feel like writing.**

 **Anyway,**

 **Let me know what you think! Review!**


	7. Dear Prophecy: Shove It

**Chapter 7**

 **Dear Prophecy: Shove it.**

 **(Your sincerely, Perseus Jackson and Harry Potter.)**

So far Harry had crashed into a tree, been ambushed, man-handled, thrown into a debate without his consent to await his trial for his freedom, and now his fate depended on the words of an _oracle_.

This, he concluded, had to be the worst first day on a vacation in wizarding history. Ever.

"You've got to be kidding me," voiced the girl who'd been holding Harry down for a while now, " _Rachel_ said this guy was going to show up? And you didn't tell us?"

"Not now, Clarisse," Chiron sighed, but was ignored by everyone.

Harry was happy to see that most of the kids seemed to be in an uproar; all apparently personally insulted for not knowing what their 'oracle' had said. Even the blonde girl and Perseus were shouting abuse at Chiron, angry and fearful at the same time.

"No," Perseus kept saying angrily, "Clarisse is right! You've got to be kidding, Chiron, because even the Fates couldn't be so cruel to give us another prophecy! You're saying Rachel said this guy was going to fall into our camp, and you 'forgot' to tell us?"

"She didn't," Chiron said, his voice still calm and reasonable, "This prophecy is ancient, but it fits perfectly."

The blonde girl crossed her arms defiantly. "I've read every ancient prophecy there is, Chiron. I have never read one saying that a British guy named _Harry Potter_ would fall into our camp one day. I'm sure I would've remembered something like that!"

Harry practically growled. "Prophecies aren't accurate," he said, ignoring the girl – Clarisse – tucking on his hair as a warning. "At least, the predictions I've been given turned out to be wrong so far! They've predicted me to die at least a hundred times, and look," he waved to his own body, "I'm still very much alive." He added hastily, thinking of his professor Trelawney.

"Maybe _your_ Oracle is defect," The blonde girl suggested with a sneer, and Perseus chuckled. "Ours, however, has never been wrong so far. And if Chiron is right, and your arrival has been predicted…"

"Chiron is right," a voice suddenly called, and all heads snapped in the direction of the source.

The girl who had spoken was gorgeous; the kind of girl Harry would've befriended if it wasn't in these circumstances. She had tucked a brush behind her right ear, her flaming red curls were standing in every direction and she was wearing – in contradiction to everyone's orange shirt – a pink sweater with the lines ' _This Is What A Feminist Looks Like'._ She looked like a normal teenage girl, ready to start protesting to save the environment, but as apparently everyone looked at her for guidance and more information, Harry got the feeling that she, too, was more than she appeared to be.

"There is a prophecy about him," she nodded to Harry, her face contracted in pity. "I'm sorry, Perce, I know how much you hate prophecies, but this is too important to ignore. Chiron was right – we can't let him go."

 _Are you kidding me?_

"Then tell us the prophecy," the blonde girl snapped, her grey eyes blazing in the firelight. She seemed just as nervous as Harry was – though that seemed to be ridiculous. It was just a prophecy, and those weren't true, just a stupid superstition… right?

Because the more Harry observed every reaction, every expression of every kid watching the red-headed girl in anticipation, the more he grew convinced that _all of them_ believed in prophecies, and were scared of them at the same time, too.

The red-headed girl quirked a brow. "You're quite dense for a wisdom's daughter. You _do_ know that my power doesn't work on command?"

"Well – if someone who's in that prophecy just asks you the question, maybe it sets turns it on or –"

She snorted. "You're ridiculous."

"You're insufferable."

"Girls!" Percy intervened quickly, and rolled his eyes when the red-headed girl beamed at him in innocence. "Your bickering isn't helpful right now –"

Even the blonde girl was smiling now, something Harry had never seen her do. Suddenly she didn't look so scary anymore, as if she turned from an analytic monster into a normal giggling teenage girl. "Bickering is _such_ a big word, Seaweed Brain," she said, playfully nudging Perseus, "you know me and Rachel go way back."

Perseus just rolled his eyes again, clearly used to this argument.

Harry kept staring at the three kids as if they had just started barking at him. The fact that they were living with a centaur whilst not being wizards and witches was weird, sure, but how they had suddenly switched to being hostile and threatening towards each other and Harry into this friendly and flirting conversation was beyond him.

Rachel winked at Perseus, but even Harry – as oblivious as he sometimes felt – could see it was meant as a joke. "She's right, Kelp Head. We're just playing."

Harry was growing tired of it all. He was tired of being pushed around, tired of being talked about as if he weren't there, and tired above all from the confusion. "If you're going to decide my fate," he bellowed, happy to see that every head turned to him, "Could you just get on with it?"

The red-headed girl – Rachel – quirked a brow, positively amused. "My, my, he's a cocky one. Reminds me a bit of you, Perce."

Perseus grumbled something under his breath. "The guy has a point. If he's in a prophecy, spit it out now. Otherwise you can all just shove it and I'll lead this guy out of our camp myself and be done with probably a lot of trouble."

Harry couldn't help but agree.

It was quiet for a while, and nothing could be heard except for the silent blistering of the fire. Not even Chiron seemed to be breathing – though he had confessed earlier that he had already heard the prophecy – and all eyes were focused on their apparent – and very young – red-headed oracle. She had her eyes closed and she was breathing in slowly, trying to concentrate on something.

Then she suddenly collapsed, as if something – or someone invisible? – had just punched her in the gut.

Even though she was one of the people holding him hostage, Harry couldn't help but feel a bit bad when she saw her face contracting in pain. Why wasn't anyone coming closer to her, why weren't her friends comforting her? Was this normal?

Just when he opened his mouth to ask for someone to help her, a green whisk of smoke surrounded the girl and an ancient voice boomed without warning and mercy:

 _The boy blessed with lightning and his friends of gold_

 _Shall travel with the sea god's son and company of old_

 _To stop the dark snake's rise to power once more_

 _Facing pain and deadly losses to stop a war_

 _Unifying their wands and swords against all odds_

 _To save the world before the solstice of the gods_

Then she collapsed for real; and this time her friends quickly caught her before she fell onto the ground in a sudden wave of weakness.

Harry just stared at her, dumbfounded.

 _"The boy blessed with lightning" –_ that must be him, right? Not that he saw his lightning scar as a blessing, not at all, but it was a symbol of what saved his life when he was a baby, which could be considered a blessing? He didn't know any friends of 'gold' – but maybe that had something to do with his Gryffindor friends, the friends of the Hogwarts House known for its red and gold colors?

The second line, ' _with the sea god's son and company of old'_ didn't make any sense at all. The gods didn't exist, and Harry had no idea who it was supposed to be. Maybe it was a sort of vague description, like someone had a special title or something? Like you could maybe win the title of 'the Sea God's Son' as much as you could win the Order of Merlin?

Harry shook his head. Pondering about that second line wasn't much use. It just didn't make any sense – and maybe it wasn't meant for him in the first place.

The third line, however…

 _'To stop the dark snake's rise to power once more'_

He wasn't all too happy that he understood that line most of all. The dark snake – that could only mean one person, and that was exactly the person that got Harry to want to leave England in the first place. Being confronted with yet another try to rise to power by Voldemort wasn't exactly the cherry top to this whole evening. Though, Harry mused confusedly, hadn't Voldemort already risen to power? He had a body now, hadn't he? How could he rise twice, in just three months' time? It didn't make sense.

Trying to ignore the fear tucking in his gut, Harry thought about the other confusing lines.

 _"Facing pain and deadly losses"._ If the hint that this prophecy, this thing – whatever it was - may include Voldemort hadn't been enough to want to run far, far away from here, it was this line.

He'd rather face the murderer of his parents a thousand times than losing someone he loved.

Harry swallowed, trying to ignore the faces of those he had lost swimming in his mind, and focused on the other lines. Getting himself scared over a stupid superstition wasn't going to be a help to anyone involved.

 _"Unifying their wands and swords"_ – that should be obvious enough. He and his friends always fought with wands, and these kids obviously did with swords – but unifying with them seemed a bit far-fetched. The kids were a bit too hostile for Harry's taste.

And the last line, to conclude it all, was confusing as hell. Saving the world? – wasn't he supposed to do that already by stopping Voldemort? – and what had the gods to do with this? Again something with a god. Was this some sort of patron for these children, like the title 'son of sea god'?

Harry wasn't the only one racking his mind for possible explanations for this weird prophecy. Percy was wearing the same expression he was: one of total confusion and fear. Something told him that he was probably denying to himself, too, that such a fate for them could be real, and he waited in anticipation for him to curse the red-headed oracle before dragging Harry away from their camp.

The blonde girl was the first to speak, and her voice sounded wary and weak. "Okay. This was definitely a prophecy – and Percy… I'm so sorry but it's obviously about you –"

Percy's brooding look didn't change, but he did smirk a bit. "I kind of expected it already, so don't worry about me, Wise Girl. A little prophecy won't kill me."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but she relented. For now. "But still, that kid," she pointed at Harry, "isn't mentioned. How are you so sure he's the one in the prophecy as well?"

Clarisse suddenly pulled Harry upright without a warning.

"Hey!" he protested, but he was ignored.

"He's the one," she grunted, clearly not happy about it.

"How are you so sure?" The blonde girl asked, nudging her eyebrows together.

Clarisse grabbed Harry's bangs, and pulled them upward without further ado. Harry had no idea how she had noticed his scar, and why she hadn't said anything before, but it was obvious what she intended to do. And he was helpless – for the hundredth time that night – to do anything about it. "Because he's been blessed by _lightning_ , Chase. That's why."

Every single eye slowly turned to Harry's forehead, all gazing with open mouths and a daunting pang of fear when they saw his scar.

Perseus cursed loudly under his breath. " _You've got to be kidding me."_

The blonde girl turned to him, and unreadable expression on her face. It was clear that she wanted to curse and shout and maybe kick someone as well, but she held herself upright and strong. "I'm afraid, Percy," she said seriously, as if it was hurting her to admit it, "we've got a new quest."

 **X**

 **Wow, this chapter took a** ** _long_** **time to write.**

 **(I hate writing prophecies, and writing this one took hours ! I hope it sounds okay.)**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think: review!**

 **Love**


	8. Just Sleep on It

**Chapter 8**

 **Just Sleep on It**

After the blonde girl had said that, Harry had been taken into a huge wooden cabin by Clarisse – unlike every other cabin he'd passed, this particular one was pretty boring. It was just big. Hagrid's house could've fit in twice, which would normally astound Harry, but since he'd just passed a cabin that was _golden,_ he didn't really think he'd ever see a cabin that beat _that_.

Clarisse wasn't holding his hair anymore – thank god – but was yanking him behind her by holding his hands in a tight grip. At this point Harry was convinced that they'd never grow back in their original state; her strength felt too great to not leave permanent damage.

All on all, Harry was happy they'd send him away. Sure, he wanted answers, and he wanted out of this camp, but he'd taken anything after he'd seen Perseus's face when the blonde girl stated something about a quest. The raven-haired boy had looked at Harry as if it was all his fault, as if Harry had chosen to crash into that tree and stumble into this mess. (Because, sure! Who _didn't_ want to be kidnapped?)

"This is you," Clarisse snarled when they'd arrived at the cabin. For the first time Harry could really look at her face; and he wasn't happy about it. She was, as her whole posture and strength had suggested, very manlike and buff-looking, and she wasn't pretty, unlike most teenagers he'd seen here. Her hair was thick and pulled back in a ponytail, and her lips seemed to be stuck in a permanent snarl. She was the kind of person that would've picked on Harry before he'd went to Hogwarts; the kind of girl his cousin Dudley surely would've fancied hanging out with. "And don't think about running away, we've got you well guarded."

He didn't answer.

Why should he?

He'd tried so hard in the past hour to beg to let him go, but seeing as that wasn't going to happen, he'd just had to roll with it. He was tired enough as it is. All he could hope for now was for some miracle – either he'd find a backdoor in that house, his wand, and his Firebolt ready to go, or he was going to have to wait for a rescue mission. And Harry was _not_ the kind of person that liked sitting around for other people to solve his own problems, even if he stumbled into them unintentionally.

"What're you waiting for?" she snapped when he hadn't moved.

He quirked a brow. "You're still holding my hands."

"Right." She quickly let go, as if suddenly embarrassed, but quickly hid it underneath a menacing smile again. "Good night, Potty."

He snorted, and saluted her a very sarcastic goodnight. He refused to act afraid around her, though she frightened him a lot more than he dared to admit to himself. "It's Potter, actually. But before I head into that cabin, just a question – how did you know about my scar?"

"It's a scar? I thought it was a tattoo." She pushed him hard suddenly, watching gleefully as he stumbled on the front steps. "And hurry up, will you, I don't fancy babysitting."

"I'm not a baby," he said as an instinct, regretting it immediately at the sight of her smug look. He climbed up the stairs, and straightened his back quickly before saying bravely: "But you haven't answered my question."

She grabbed her sizzling spear – was it fueled by _electricity?_ – and pointed it at Harry. "You are in no position at all to ask questions. Just go inside, and I'll pick you up here tomorrow. No funny business, I've got my eyes on you."

Harry doubted it – she looked just as tired as he was. "Fine. But don't think you can get away with all of this," he added bravely, "my friends are going to wonder where I am if I don't come home soon."

She laughed, and somehow, it made Harry feel worse. " _Home._ You're in America, British guy. Your home is far, far away from here."

And she left him there, still laughing as if she'd just told the most amazing joke in history.

Harry watched her go, and pondered if he dared to make a run for it. Sure, he'd be without a wand and broom, and the kids would definitely follow him to Montauk – since it wasn't that far away – and he'd had to stumble and fall and run through the darkened woods he'd never walked through, woods he was sure these kids knew better than their back pockets… still, it was tempting.

Harry sighed. No matter how tempting it was, he couldn't. Wouldn't. Didn't dare to. A gut feeling was telling him that Clarisse hadn't been lying when she said she'd have him guarded; and the two shining eyes he thought he saw staring at him in the bushes were sure to be her pals.

He saluted theatrically to them, even made a bow – he didn't hear anything but dry leaves breaking, as if someone had moved – before turning and walking inside.

Whatever was waiting for him tomorrow, whoever was going to threaten him tomorrow to take part of some stupid prophecy _: first_ he was going to have a long and well-deserved sleep. He stumbled into the dark hall-way, not even looking around to what was inside, or if a bed was waiting for him or not. He just let himself be taken over by the feelings of guilt and worry and fear and let the darkness take him away for a few hours.

 _-xxx- a few hours later –xxx-_

"Somehow I doubt that's very comfortable," said a gruffly but amused voice, and Harry jerked awake.

The room was still dark around him, and Harry had trouble focusing. Last night felt blurry to him, he didn't really remember going to bed… was he hit with a Quaffle or something?

But the word Quaffle jarred some unwanted memories; and everything came flooding back. From the pine tree crashing to the strange prophecy – and Harry groaned out loud. So it hadn't been an odd dream, after all. And sensing the pain in his back, he'd apparently slept on the wooden floor. Great. Fantastic thinking.

"Oy, Harry! Wake up, we haven't got much time!"

Harry blinked a couple of times, still trying to see in the dark. That accent had sounded familiar… and strangely British. "Lupin?"

"That's the one." A hand appeared from the shadows, reaching out to the young teenager. "I've come to take you out of here."

"What – how – why?" Harry's head was spinning, it was certainly way too early for this. How had Lupin been able to find this camp, let alone find the right cabin with him in it? It was too quiet outside, so that meant nobody noticed the werewolf sneaking into the camp to rescue Harry – which had to have been difficult, seeing as there were guards outside watching. "How did you find me?"

The hand came even closer, and this time, Harry took it.

"Don't underestimate my furry problem, Harry," Lupin said, not unkindly. Harry grinned. "The Weasleys warned me something was up when you hadn't returned for an hour, and then I found this strange camp… did they hurt you? Who are they? Why did they want you? They aren't Death Eaters, are they? They seemed so young –"

Harry tried not to laugh. He couldn't even start to explain them, seeing as he felt like the more he thought about them, the weirder they seemed to be. "They're… different." He let go of Lupin's hand, still listening closely to what was happening outside. "How did you sneak past the guards?"

Lupin grinned in the darkness, and his teeth shone white. "Most of them were fast asleep. As I said, they were young – maybe twelve or thirteen years old, so sneaking past the few that _were_ awake was surprisingly easy. But never mind that, Harry. You can explain why they took you, back at Montauk – but we've got to go before they notice I'm here."

"I can't," Harry wished he could give any other answer, and was glad for the first time that it was too dark to see Lupin's expression. "They've got my wand… And there's this prophecy… I can't just leave without getting some answers."

It was silent for a while.

Harry tried to stay on his two feet, but sleeping for only two hours was too little to be fully awake yet. But he _had_ to stay awake – he couldn't faint in front of Lupin, nor could he abandon the wolf and risk being dragged away without more information.

Sure, he knew that prophecies weren't real and everything, but the teenagers here believed they were, _and_ they believed Harry to be a part of it. Ergo: they needed Harry, and couldn't hurt him. He was in a position to bargain, something he'd been waiting for. And now he wasn't going to run from this just because he was scared. He wouldn't back down this time. He wouldn't feel too tired to fight back. He _refused_ to feel tired at all.

When Lupin spoke, he sounded oddly calm. The kind of calm that got little hairs on the back of Harry's neck to stand up right – the kind of calm before an explosion. "A prophecy? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure – but what's the matter? Prophecies aren't real, right?"

Lupin ignored the question. "Listen, Harry, whatever happened and whatever they said to you – we have got to go! You were kidnapped, something you seem to forget, and I want to keep you safe –"

"I _am_ safe!" A branch snapped in two outside, and Harry quickly lowered his voice. "But if we go right now, I won't be. And you, and the Weasleys, and Hermione – you all won't be, too. Because, Lupin… these kids are scary, all right? They won't back down, they won't care that we're just kids just like they are. The prophecy said we had to work together – and even though _I_ don't want to, I don't think they're going to take no for an answer. If you take me with me, I won't have a wand. They will come after me; after all of us." Harry took a deep breath. Last night he'd have done anything to have been able to get away, but now… he'd realized that this thing was bigger than his own freedom. Something told him that they shouldn't piss those children off, even though they were – probably - muggles.

And Harry wasn't willing to risk his friends' safety on the slim hope that they would let him be. "I'll be okay here, don't worry, they won't hurt me. But please: go! It's the smartest thing to do!"

Then Lupin did something he'd never done: he made a choking sound, lunged forward and hugged the son of his best friend.

" _Lupin_? What's –"

Lupin held on ever tighter, almost crushing out the air from Harry's lungs.

Maybe Harry imagined it, but the scent of Lupin - a combination of chocolate and something wet and furry – somewhat calmed him down. It felt the same whenever he stepped foot in the Burrow. The smell, though not even remotely similar to the one from the Weasleys' house, felt like _home_. He couldn't remember ever being this close to Lupin before, so how could this feel so familiar?

He had frozen on the spot by Lupin's strangely out-of-character behavior. Firstly because, well, he wasn't used to see affection from Lupin, and secondly; he wasn't that used to getting hugs out of the blue. But after a while, he hugged him back, burying his face deep into Lupin's shoulder.

"You're too brave for your own good," Lupin's muffled voice said, and Harry was moved to hear the proudness of it. "Has anyone ever said that?"

Harry smirked unconsciously. "Maybe once or twice," he said, thinking about Ron and Hermione.

Lupin let go, breathing in deeply. He was now so close that Harry could finally see him – though his face was still clouded by shadows. Lupin was smiling at him, but his eyebrows were furrowed, as if remembering something beautiful and painful at the same time. His eyes were glossy, and Harry had to look away to stop from feeling too overwhelmed by all this. "You are truly James' and Lily's son, Harry," Lupin said sincerely.

Harry blinked a couple times too many, and backed away quickly before Lupin could study his face. "It's no big deal – honestly. Just go back to the others and make sure they're safe. I'll handle myself."

Lupin squeezed Harry's shoulder one more time before stepping into the shadows once more. "We'll come for you, Harry, don't worry. Maybe you're right, and we can't sneak you out, but that was the domestic approach. We have, however, more means to receive our end."

Harry scowled. "You aren't suggesting to attack these kids? We're outmatched!"

"You forget you've got two marauders and the twins on your side, Harry."

 _Right._ He smirked.

"We'll get you out." Lupin promised. "Good luck, don't let them get you down."

Harry snorted, and smiled, hoping Lupin could see it and feel reassured. "You too, Lupin."

"Call me Remus," he said, and he was gone.

 _Remus,_ Harry thought solemnly, staring at the spot Lupin had disappeared – maybe a window? A back-door? – and shook his head. He'd called Lupin, well, _Lupin,_ because he'd only first met him as a teacher. _Professor Lupin_. And the man had always acted like it, too. He'd never shown any other kind of affection than kindness and advice, other than Sirius had done.

But that hug… something told Harry that Lupin didn't like to be called by his last name, by James' son. He deserved better than that.

And, Harry mused, trying to find a more comfortable spot to get some couple of hours rest, maybe it wouldn't hurt that much to call him 'uncle Moony' from time to time.

 **X**

 **Hi lovelies.**

 **Poor Harry, he's never going to get some sleep at this rate.**

 **Anyway, let me know what you think: review!**


	9. Cloudy with a Chance of Fireballs

**Chapter 9**

 **Cloudy with a Chance of Fireballs**

 _*Percy's POV*_

Honestly, today could've gone better.

At least, it should've.

I'd planned everything perfectly – from the dinner at a fancy restaurant to the roses I'd give my beautiful girlfriend (did I mention she was beautiful? And my girlfriend? My beautiful girlfriend? Just making sure you got that) when I would pick her up at the porch of her cabin at seven o'clock. We had a great time, we kissed – _oh yes_ we did – and when we came back we decided to play a little game of catching the Flag with the huntresses of Artemis and everyone at camp. Our three-week anniversary had been nothing but awesome, and I'd felt as if nothing could go wrong.

Of course it did.

Knowing my life, I knew I should've expected it, but come on, who could've known that someone would smash into Thalia's tree, bringing a whole lot of trouble _and_ another prophecy?

Even Annabeth, known Wise Girl, couldn't figure this one out.

She'd just barked instructions at Clarisse to take the frankly too skinny guy away, and stormed off.

I had searched for her for two hours – seriously – before she had suddenly reappeared in the middle of a conversation between me and Thalia when she grabbed my hand in a death-like grip and pulled me along to gods knew where.

I had no idea why she was mad at me, but I knew better than to ask. (See? I can be a considerate boyfriend. In your face, Thals.) If I was lucky, she was mad at the prophecy, at the strange Potter guy, at everyone _but_ me, seeing that I hadn't done anything wrong. Right?

"Er- Annabeth?" I asked cautiously, letting her guide me. I knew I was strong enough to fight off her grip and run away. I also knew that if I did that, she'd find a way to kill me slowly, with or without Achilles' curse protecting me. "Are you going to tell me where you're taking me and why?"

"No."

Yup. She was pissed.

She barged right passed her cabin – which I suspected she'd take me – past mine – again, surprise – and right into the dark woods. We were completely alone and surrounded by shadows, but still she didn't slow down. Her grip was still tight, and I had a feeling that if she didn't let go soon my hand would fall off. (Not that I minded Annabeth holding my hand, of course not, I just like to keep it that's all)

Suddenly she let go, and pushed me down on a hard rock. We'd arrived at the same spot where we once accidentally entered the labyrinth years ago, and why she had chosen this precise location to talk was beyond me.

"This is bad," she said, her eyes all strategic and steady – yet her hands were shaking. "This is _really_ bad, Perce. I've always known your luck to be bad – but another prophecy? Three weeks after the Great Prophecy?"

I looked away, staring at the dark pit in the ground where Nico di Angelo had summoned skeletons once. It made me feel small. "It's bad," I admitted reluctantly, not wanting to show her how angry I was at the Fates for all this, "but we can't deny Rachel's – I mean, the Oracle's – say in this. I have to accept it."

" _We_ have to," she corrected, and sat down beside me.

Something twirled in my stomach at her closeness, and I had to mentally tell myself to calm down because _now is not the time!_ "You're not coming." I ignored her glare. "You heard the prophecy as well as I did. I've got no say in the matter – since I'm still the only demigod son of Poseidon – but there is no way in Hades that you're coming."

I wasn't that good at remembering prophecies precisely, I had people like Annabeth to do that for me, but there was one sentence that wouldn't go away every time I looked at Annabeth right now. _Facing pain and deadly losses._ We'd gone through a war, we lost so many people, and I'd do anything in my power to protect her from the next one.

"Don't be ridiculous," she said seriously, and focused her stormy grey eyes on mine. "Do you really think you're getting away from me that easily? We've never gone on a quest without each other – not counting the time with Atlas – and I have a feeling I'm in your 'company of old'. I expect Grover is, too. And," she hit my shoulder hard, and I pretended to get hurt (thanks, river Styx), "how _dare_ you suggest to leave me behind as some damsel in distress! I can handle myself."

I rubber my shoulder and smirked. "I know you can, Wise Girl. It's just…" I couldn't say it. _It's just that Beckendorf could, too._

She inhaled deeply, as if trying to form her thoughts and calm herself down at the same time. "Let's just try to make sense of the prophecy before getting mad at each other, okay?"

I apparently wasn't the only one trying to make this relationship work – and that knowledge made my heart go all mushy.

"Right," I said, putting my hand on top of hers. "Let's look at this logically – one step at the time."

She shot a grateful look in my direction before taking a deep breath. "Okay. The prophecy. It's a weird one, and frankly, a long one. It doesn't make any sense. Sure, thanks to Clarisse know who the first line is meant for; _the boy blessed with lightning_ – although I have no idea how that Harry Potter got the lightning scar. Maybe it _is_ a blessing of sorts, like Zeus blessed him when he was a child or something?"

I got the feeling it was something other than that. "Maybe."

"But his friends of 'gold' – do you think they arrived in America with him?"

"Yes." Annabeth's eyebrows knitted together at my voice. She probably hadn't expected me to answer so surely. "He mentioned his friends were going to look for him if he didn't get back – and he did again at the campfire. He even called them his family that time – so yes, I do believe they're in America, and close."

"Right. That's the first line, then. We only need to make sure Harry wants to work with us."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I have a feeling he doesn't like us very much."

She laughed shortly, too, but turned serious quick enough. "The second line is for you, Seaweed Brain, we already established that it includes me and quite possible Grover, too. The third, however… _'to stop the dark snake's rise to power once more'.._ The reference to a snake could be literal, like a monster, but also symbolic. A snake represents immortality in so many myths – like in the Egyptian myth it represents the ever turning cycle of dying and being reborn again, and a snake biting its own tail in Greek mythology represents the sea –"

"A snake represents the _sea?"_ I wrinkled my nose. "Nice."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she said, but she was smiling. "It could be symbolic, but then the rest of the sentence wouldn't make sense. The sea can't rise to power – at least, I don't suspect your father wants to – and immortality can't, too. It could be that the prophecy refers to _nagas –"_

"Na-what now?"

"Nagas," she repeated more slowly, as if she couldn't understand my stupidity. "They're human-headed snakes, sometimes called 'demon cobras'. They're myths, supposedly guarding jewels and other prices from powerful kings of the past underground, but they're often referred to as the guards of the Underworld, much like the Kindly Ones."

"Demon cobras," I repeated, blinking. "Why not."

She ignored me. "It could mean so many things – you have native American myths about the snake spirit guarding the secret to immortality, the Nordic myth about the great serpent trying to claw down the Tree of Life and nearly destroying the whole world, and the Aztec snake gods – shapeshifters…"

"How on earth do you know all this?" I asked, astonished. I couldn't even remember the whole prophecy, let alone every bit of mythology there was about snakes. Then again; this was _Annabeth Chase_ we were talking about.

And for the second time she ignored me. "But every myth sounds wrong and unfitting, definitely not the 'dark snake' we're looking for. I've never heard of a snake rising to power –" and if Annabeth hadn't heard about it, it hadn't happened. That's at least what I believed. "- let alone do it _again._ "

I let her ponder about it for a while, but when her frown turned more angry than frustrated I intervened and said; "And what about the other lines?"

She looked at me, her gaze first unfocused and elsewhere, but slowly it cleared. "What?"

"What about the other lines?" I repeated. She'd obviously been punishing herself for not knowing what the third line had meant, and I wasn't going to let her. Just because she was the smartest person I knew didn't meant she had to know everything.

"Oh." She smiled shyly at me. "Right. Well, the fourth line is pretty clear – _'facing pain and deadly losses to stop a war'…_ it doesn't leave anything up to imagination –"

I'd beg the differ.

"Though I hate that it mentions a war at all."

"Me too."

We both sighed at the same time. Though we'd won last summer, though we'd defeated Kronos and defended New York City with success, it was hard to think about it. We lost so many good people. People I'd been too late to save. Children who happened to stand in the wrong place at the wrong time, brave teenagers who'd been unlucky in a fight. Children who were supposed to think about crushes and school – not about the next dragon spitting fire at them. Children who had passed sides because they were scared – children whom I should have protected.

Annabeth grasped my hand again, as if knowing what I was thinking about.

I inhaled deeply, and tried to remember the fifth line to take both our minds of the second Titan War. "The other line was something about unifying hands and swords?"

"Wands and swords," she corrected. Her voice sounded strangely flat, and I had a feeling mine sounded that way, too. " _Unifying their wands and swords against all odds._ I guess that Harry is going to cooperate with us – even though it doesn't look like it right now."

"I don't blame him." I said, smiling a bit now. "I wouldn't really fancy getting abducted like that, too, let alone being manhandled by Clarisse. That grip she had on his hair seemed quite painful."

"That's not saying anything," her voice sounded a bit more normal. "You've always had sensitive hair."

"I have not!" I backed away quickly before she could prove it. (And gods knew she could.)

"Yes, you do." I was happy to say that Annabeth was smiling, even though it was to mock me. "Even your look-a-like hasn't got as sensitive hair as you do."

"My what now?"

"Harry? Sure you've noticed he's your exact copy?"

This time, I backed away truly, almost falling off the rock we were sitting on in the process. "I do not! I'm not scrawny, and my hair is not _that_ messy!"

She laughed, and pushed me. This time I _did_ fall off, making a hard thud as I hit the ground. It hadn't hurt, but I growled at her, which made her laugh even harder. "Come on, Perce, don't deny it! He's got your hair, including its color and messiness, even his brooding eyes are the same –"

"My eyes are not _brooding_." I said, glaring at her.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No, of course not, my mistake!"

I pushed myself upright, and nudged her softly. "Contrary to popular belief, I _can_ detect sarcasm, Wise Girl."

She smirked. "Fine. If you don't want to see it, fine. Just know that he looks like a slightly smaller twin of yours. I imagine he's younger right now – and grows quite a bit until he's your age. Then you can really pass as each other's copies."

"Quit it!" I said, meaning it. "Sure, he's got dark hair and green eyes, but that's it! He doesn't look like me, and he's not another child of Poseidon!"

She quit laughing. "I never said he was."

Before either of us could open our mouths – and I could see that Annabeth was curious all right – something boomed in the distance, as if someone had set off a bomb right in the middle of our camp.

"What the –"

 _BOOM._

This time Annabeth and I flew off our rock by the impact.

Instinctively I pulled my arms around her, shielding her from hitting the ground, the branches that were flying everywhere, and the heat wave that had rolled in our direction. I kept holding her down under me – ignoring her protests because really, which one of us had indestructible skin again? – and didn't move until the heat wave had passed.

Cries were heard in the distance, but none of pain – luckily – and no noises that suggested that a fight was happening. I waited a few seconds longer before turning fully upright.

The heat hadn't completely disappeared – and that could only mean one thing. Fire.

"What's going on?" Annabeth asked, her face immediately on fight-mode. "How did the monsters came into our camp?"

I strained my ears. Other than the people yelling in the distance, nothing could be heard… except a silent hiss in the air, as if something was flying above me. I narrowed my eyes, and pulled Riptide from my pocket. "It's Harry," I said, my voice serious.

"What now?" I couldn't even laugh at her baffled expression. "I have his wand – he can't have done this!"

"It's his friends," I said, trying to see figures flying on brooms in the air, but instead saw nothing but black smoke. I couldn't help but curse loudly. " _He warned us_. He did, and we didn't listen! C'mon, Annabeth, we've got to go back and help everyone!"

She grabbed my hand, nodded.

And together we ran back, not quite knowing who or what we were running into.

 **X**

 **Dun, dun, dun.**

 **(Sorry if Percy's POV seemed off - I tried my best.)**

 **Find out what happens – next chapter!**

 **Feedback is highly appreciated. Thanks.**


	10. A Heart Full of Smoke

**Chapter 10**

 **A Heart Full of Smoke**

So far in his life, Harry was used to being roughly awakened by his aunt yelling through his cupboard door, his uncle yelling through his bedroom cat-flap and at his Quidditch captain Wood yelling through the curtains of his bed at Hogwarts. He was used to Ron and Hermione hovering above him whenever he woke up in the infirmary – and he was used to wake up surrounded by a huge crowd of people after getting knocked unconscious.

He was, however, _not_ used to getting wakened by the sounds of fireworks going off, sizzling through the air and exploding all around him.

"What –"

Squinting around, he pushed his glasses on with a little more force than necessary, and hoisted himself up. For the first time since setting foot in the huge wooden cabin he could see farther than his nose; but the source of the light seemed to demand his attention more than the furniture around him was doing.

For one thing, the woods seemed to be on fire.

Harry cursed, loudly, and grabbed for his wand… only to remember it wasn't there. Cursing again, he stumbled around the room, knocking aside several chairs to get to the door. He didn't care that he had guards waiting for him outside – he'd take the opportunity to be manhandled again above suffocating in the smoke.

He didn't know what had happened (maybe it were the monsters the kids had mentioned?) but when another loud _bang_ shook the cabin, and it was followed by laughter rather than cries of pain, he started smiling.

Of course. _The twins._

Sure, he'd expected them to find their way to camp eventually, but so soon? He had to admire their persistence.

Without further ado he kicked to door open, expecting it to be locked, but his kick instead send it of its frame and flying through the damp air, almost knocking out a kid that had tried to run past the cabin. "Sorry!" he quickly exclaimed, but the kid jumped right up, yelled something about ' _for Olympus!'_ and ran off again, his sword high in the air.

"Right," Harry muttered, and looked around.

Okay, so the forest was not on fire after all. The _air_ was.

He couldn't see his friends flying, but he _did_ see the damage they were making. And boy, was that damage a catastrophically comical sight.

Everywhere were fireworks – but they weren't even close to resemble those made by muggles. The sizzling fires took shapes of figures with open mouths and fangs, of wolves running through the woods to chase screaming campers, and of huge fire-breathing dragons soaring through the sky, barfing up smaller rockets in their way. But fireworks wasn't the only thing they'd come up with, Harry saw with his mouth wide open in shock, for the smoke that had first threatened to suffocate him in his sleep had drifted together to make a huge army of smoke-warriors, with swords and shields and everything, ready to pounce on those who'd been spared by the fireworks.

Harry watched in amazement as the brave campers tried their best to claw their way through the warriors, but it was of no use. No matter how many times a kid slashed one, nor how many arrows hit it, it was unstoppable, and at last they were forced to run back into the woods.

"Harry!" came a loud shout from the air, and he looked up.

There, up high, flying on his broomstick with an enormous smile on his face, was Fred. And Harry would've kissed him if he wasn't so far up. "'Morning!" Harry shouted, as if nothing was happening.

Fred laughed. "And a very good one it is, too! Just a problem – me and the lads aren't able to come any closer than this, some sort of ward seems to keep us out, like a bubble – but Lupin _is_ down somewhere. Don't know why, but he was able to fly through it.. anyway, he's coming to pick you up, get your wand and broomstick and get out of here."

 _Seriously?_ It was as if Lupin hadn't listened to a word Harry had said to him. "I can't leave, Fred!" he bellowed back, jumping up when one of the fire-wolves shot past him. It smelled like gunpowder. "It's complicated, and I can't explain, but you can't take me back to Montauk just yet…"

"Are you kidding me?" Fred's smile had slid of his face. "We've come to rescue you – and you want to stay put?"

"No, like I said, it's complicated." Harry sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. Now he felt all guilty, too… Why must everything that _could_ go wrong; go wrong even more badly? "Listen, meet me back here with everyone in ten minutes, I'll get my wand, and then I'll explain everything I can okay?"

"No, hold up!" Fred protested. "It took us a while to find you, and you can't just run off –"

 _Watch me._

And without waiting for Fred to call the others or do something more drastic to get Harry to stay put, he ran off.

It felt good to run through the camp, even though he had to jump and dodge fires every now and then: it made him feel like he had something to do other than wait around for others to decide his fate for him. The running made him forget that he was a captive, that he was wandless, and that he still had no clue what was happening. He ran past the campfire – which, strangely, was smaller than it had been last night – and past all the huge buildings. He watched girls running out of a cabin, trying to spray water on the roses (who puts flowers on a wooden cabin? Honestly.), and he watched other girls trying their best to actually _fight_ the fireworks.

Sure, the girl that had took him everywhere the other night, Clarisse, had seem Slytherin enough for him to dislike her guts. These children, however… they were braver than most people he knew in Gryffindor.

He shook his head. _Focus._

He had to find that blonde girl, the one with the freaky grey eyes, the one who had stolen his wand.

"He's out!" a camper suddenly yelled, and charged Harry instead of a fire-y wolf. The camper was maybe thirteen, and his blade was larger than he was, but Harry took no chances, and shot off in the dark woods.

"Get him!" An older camper yelled, and he recognized the voice – Clarisse.

Eyes widening, Harry picked up his pace, not wanting to run into _her_ in the middle of the battle. He looked over his shoulder, his feet quickening their pace. She wasn't following him, and he couldn't see anything but trees illuminated by fire. _No one_ was following him, he was running alone in the woods, and for the first time he felt as if he could finally –

 _WHAM._

Harry suddenly crashed, hard, taking whatever he bumped into down onto the ground.

 _"For the love of Merlin.."_

This was the second fall he'd made in two days, and every forgotten bruise started aching again. He hadn't crashed into a tree, so luckily there weren't any scratches, but the 'something' he'd bumped into had fallen with him, and was currently crushing Harry's bones into a pulp.

"Oy!" Harry yelled, trying to push it off. "Get off!"

"Then let me go!"

Harry stilled. He was used to his temper yelling at objects he bumped in to; they just never spoke back. Until now, apparently.

"Seriously!" the object was moving, almost digging Harry's face into the mudded ground. "Let me go, I have to get back!"

Okay, so he'd bumped into a camper. _Not_ a tree. And even though he felt quite squashed, the camper couldn't be much taller nor heavier than he was. (Though that wasn't saying much.) "I'm not _holding_ you, tosser!"

"Kelp Head, since when do you talk British?" the other guy groaned, obviously not noticing that he wasn't, in fact, Perseus Jackson. "And why aren't you in armor?"

"Because _I'm Harry freaking Potter, you daft bugger!"_ Harry yelled, throwing a fit, trying to shove the guy off. It wasn't working; the guy's armor must've somehow gotten stuck on Harry's jeans or something. "Just, unlock yourself or something, you're suffocating me!"

Beat. "Wait – you're Harry Potter? The one of the prophecy? Wow, they hadn't exaggerated your likeness of Percy." The guy didn't sound angry or flustered – why did he think flustered? – anymore; he sounded intrigued.

"Yes, yes, yes, now come on! You just gotta – angle yourself."

The guy chuckled lowly, and it send shivers all down Harry's body. And he hated the guy for it. This position they were in – Harry on the bottom with a strange camper on top of him, close enough to feel each other's breaths – wasn't exactly something he liked. He liked personal space, thanks very much, and this felt like quite the opposite.

"Just angle myself." The other guy repeated slowly.

" _YES!"_

"Stop moving!" The guy's hands tried to grab Harry's shoulders from moving, but the contact made Harry even spasm more. "Styx, you're a difficult one… I just don't know how we're stuck, that's all –"

"Well, if you could just find out, that'd be great! I don't quite fancy eating mud!"

Before the boy could respond, a twig snapped.

And they both fell silent.

 _Of course,_ Harry thought, sighing mentally when nobody spoke for a few seconds. _Just make this scene even worse and add a spectator – because apparently it wasn't awkward enough already._

"Er," the guy scratched his throat awkwardly, "good morning, Will."

"Di Angelo." The other person said. Harry couldn't see anything but brownish mud, but for some he reason he recognized the voice – it belonged to the tall blonde guy that had been pushed on the ground the other night by Clarisse! "Normally I'd congratulate you for flirting with the new guy, but seeing as we're under attack, I'd rather you didn't."

"I'm not flirting," the guy on Harry's back yelled back, at the same time Harry bellowed: "We're _not_ flirting!"

"Then explain to me why you're hugging each other in the mud? It seems flirty enough to me."

"We're stuck!" Di Angelo yelled back angrily, suddenly more frustrated than embarrassed. "He crashed into me out of nowhere – my armor got stuck on his back or something, and now we can't get loose!"

The other boy – Will – started laughing. Hard.

And that was the thing that set Harry off – and he started laughing too. This whole situation was so pathetic it was hilarious. He had been kidnapped, surrounded by smoke-warriors and fire-wolves his friends had created to get him out, and now he was stuck to one of the campers, eating mud trying to catch his breath.

He'd probably laughed all day long, if Will hadn't helped to entangle them.

"Gods, Nico," Will said, still laughing as he pulled both of them up. "Your face is hilarious…"

Harry gazed up, and started laughing even louder. Nico di Angelo, a pale dark-haired young teen, was glaring at Will as if he was trying to turn him into dust with just one glance. Obviously the guy didn't like being surrounded by laughing people. "Quit it," he snarled, which made Will even laugh louder. "It isn't funny!"

"Actually," Harry said, trying to catch his breath, "it kind of is."

Before Nico could respond with an angry remark, the boys fell silent for the second time that day.

Only now it wasn't due to awkwardness – it was due to sheer fright.

One of the warriors had suddenly appeared from the woods, standing in front of them with his sword high up in the air, ready to strike them down. The warrior had seemed impressive enough from a distance, but from up close… It was no wonder the brave campers had run away. It was scary, all right. It was at least seven feet tall, with smoke radiating off his dangerously solid-looking body, and yellow lights as eyes staring at the teens with a cold anger.

Harry knew the twins would have never intended to harm any of these children… but then again, the twins didn't know that his captors were children at all. Maybe they thought they were dangerous, maybe they thought they were magical enough to fight off these shadows.

Harry, being wandless, and two non-magical teens at his side, however… they couldn't really fight of smoke, could they?

"Er," Will said, his voice kind of flat, "any ideas how to defeat that thing?"

"Harry's friends created it," Nico remarked dryly, eyeing Harry, as if expecting him to solve all this. This wasn't the first time Harry wished he didn't look like their leader. "Maybe he knows how."

"I don't," He muttered, which made the other boys freeze for a second. "I don't know how they're made, what they're made off, and how to stop them. Maybe I could've blown him away – but as you know, I haven't got my wand. I'm useless right now."

"Great." Nico said sarcastically, unsheathing an impressive looking black blade. Like the other small teens, the blade was taller than its yielder, but something told Harry Nico could hold his own against a warrior like this. "Remind me to slap the person who took your _wand_ after we're done with this one."

"That would be Annabeth," Will pointed out.

Nico sighed, opened his mouth to answer, but at the same time the smoke warrior advanced.

Harry, being a proud Gryffindor, was embarrassed to admit that for a split second he'd wanted to run away. But then he remembered he had his captors by his side – though they seemed okay to him – and he couldn't very well leave them alone by something that was his fault. "Hey!" he yelled, waving his arms, "over here, you fat and stupid buffoon!"

The warrior changed course – he'd been aiming for Nico, since he was the one holding the most dangerous weapon – and he began running towards Harry instead, his blade aimed directly at his face.

"What _the Hades_ are you doing?" Nico yelled angrily, paralyzed, watching with wide eyes.

"This." Harry just said, ducking when the warrior tried to slash his head off while pushing the two guys away from him in the same move. He had no idea if the warrior's blade could hurt them at all, being made up by smoke and all, but he wasn't taking any chances. After the warrior's blade had narrowly missed his head, Harry pulled the long blade from Nico's hands and _charged._

He had only ever used a sword once, in the Chamber of Secrets when he was twelve years old, so he hadn't had that much practice. Still, the basics were pretty much the same; slashing forward a bit and hoping he'd make a hit.

Fortunately, he lucked out this time, and with a quiet _sizz_ the warrior disappeared in front of them, the blade pointing at the place the warrior's heart had once been.

The silence that followed was somehow louder than the fight had been.

"How – how did you.."

"Here." Harry promptly gave the guy back his sword, ignoring the awed expression Nico had on his face. "You've got some punching to do, I recall?"

Nico blinked a couple times before composing himself in his usual brooding face. "Well – um, yes. You're right. We've got to find Annabeth… for your wand."

Will laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Somehow I think Harry can handle himself perfectly well without it."

 **X**

 **Right, that's the end of it folks! I could go on, but then the chapter would end in the middle of a sentence – and I really wanted to post another chapter today. Tomorrow the next one will be up, however, so don't despair my wonderful readers! All is well!**

 **Oh, and I have a beautiful limerick written by the user Triola for my 137 followers:**

 _There once was a youngster names Stu_

 _Who simply refused to review_

 _His computer broke down_

 _And the next day he drowned_

 _So let that be a lesson to you_

 **You heard it. Don't be Stu.**

 ***winks* bye!**


	11. A Shiny Battle

**Author's note:** _Thank you all for your sweet reviews – I've hit a hundred! That's sick! A great thanks to the sweetheart_ _Nix-Lokifan_ _to have the honor of being the_ _hundredth reviewer_ **.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

 **A Shiny Battle**

The trio had taken off into the woods, their eyes focused on the trees and strange shadows, just in case one of those warriors decided to show up again.

They didn't, which was a huge relief to Harry. He somehow got the feeling that that had been beginner's luck – who knew he could hit a moving target right in its heart? – and that he wouldn't be able to do it again. And he was quite content with the awe the two boys felt towards him, rather than the annoyance the other teens had shown last night. "So," he began, trying to break the tense air, "where's that Annabeth you spoke of?"

"I don't know," Nico said, without looking up. He still hadn't sheathed his sword. "I'm guessing she's with Percy."

"Right." Harry fell silent again. It felt weird walking through the woods with them, but comfortable at the same time. They didn't feel like his enemies at all. Maybe it was a trap; but for now Harry was happy to have semi-friends. "They're in charge, right?"

Will laughed. "Nobody's really in charge – though don't let Mr. D hear that, our camp director – but Percy sort of leads us. He won us the last war, so we couldn't very well not listen to him."

"He _what?"_ Harry stumbled, almost falling over an overgrown branch.

Sure, he'd thought that Perseus had been through quite a lot judging by his incapability to trust total strangers, but that he saved them a _war?_ Whilst being a kid? Harry was used to the fact that the weight of the wizarding world was on his shoulders, it had been ever since he was one year old, but to meet someone else with the same fate was… strangely comforting.

"Yeah," Nico said, casually dodging a small fireball shooting past his head, as if he did that every day. "But don't mention the war to him, he doesn't like that. Nobody in camp does, actually, now that I think about it."

"Figures," Will pushed Harry quickly to prevent him from walking straight into a bush. "We kind of lost a lot of good people, in case you hadn't noticed."

It was almost as if Nico's whole figure had darkened – as if Nico had somehow called the shadows around them to surround him. But that was just a trick of the light... right? "I've noticed."

They fell silent again, but Harry was bursting with questions. "Just… hold up for a second. Are you guys telling me you've been in a _war_?" _And Percy was your chosen one?_ He wanted to ask as well, but didn't dare in case he was wrong and looked odd.

"Yes." This time Nico looked at him, and somehow that glare was scarier than the smoke warrior had been. "What, never heard of children fighting a war?" He asked when he caught a hold of Harry's clouded expression.

"I'm currently in the middle of one, actually," Harry admitted reluctantly, "but I've never heard of one happening here in America the last couple of years –"

"It ended a just few weeks ago." Will said shortly.

Nico looked away from Harry's face, who relaxed visibly. "Really, Harry Potter, don't ask questions about it. It's still too raw for some people."

"Right." He had to find out about it another way, then. Not that he wasn't used to finding the truth in the most unorthodox ways. "Got it."

The woods around them seemed strangely quiet, as if all the fighting had ceased. Harry knew better than to hope for that to have happened (seeing as he still didn't have his wand, and hadn't shown himself to his friends to make them stop the fighting), and he couldn't help but think that something was waiting for them the moment they'd step out of the woods. Maybe the twins had cooked up something else, something worse. (Harry _had_ said he'd be back in ten minutes, and he'd been away for far longer than that.) Maybe the warriors were preparing themselves for a battle rather than scaring the teenagers.

Nico's sigh disrupted Harry's thoughts, and his gaze feel onto the young kid.

He reminded him strangely of Colin, a kid he knew from Hogwarts. It wasn't that Nico looked like Colin – not even in the slightest – nor that his energy was the same – they couldn't be more different in that aspect – but Harry sort of felt responsible for him without knowing exactly why. Nico was holding a sword, he looked like death, and his scowl would surely make a lot of people want to avoid him… but Harry couldn't help but want to wrap the guy up in a cloak and keep him warm and safe.

It wasn't the eyes. It hadn't been his voice. It surely hadn't been the way Nico had enjoyed being stuck together, and it hadn't been the tone of awe when Nico had asked how Harry had destroyed the warrior.

There just was something about him that made him think of him as someone to protect, and looking at the expression Will had every time he looked at Nico, Harry knew that he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

"How big is this camp of yours?" Harry suddenly asked, no longer being able to think like that about a stranger – about a stranger who had _abducted_ him, no less. Ron would've punched him if he knew he pitied them. "And why are there only teenagers here?"

They were quiet for a while after that, the two boys obviously torn between wanting to tell him, and not knowing how much they were allowed to tell him. It wasn't after Harry had pulled Nico quickly to stop him from crashing into a tree that they began to talk again.

"Well," it was Nico who started, "I'm not sure _how_ big it is, but it contains everything we need. It starts at the strawberry farm – you sort of fell right through our barrier, I'm sure you remember – and ends at the beach. We've got twelve cabins, but they're building more, because… well, it's a bit complicated. Let's just say they're building more." He took a deep breath. "We've got an arena, one for fighting and one for racing – which we barely use, actually – and we've got multiple spots for training. We've got stables, and… a _challenging_ climbing wall, an amphitheater.."

"And an archery field," Will added cheerily, but quickly shut up when Nico glared at him.

"An archery field, indeed," Nico continued, as if Will hadn't interrupted him. "We've got an armory as well, and the Big House – the house in which you were kept.. I mean, you slept last night."

 _Right._ These kids were getting weirder and weirder. "How many camps have armories and archery fields in America?"

Nico smirked. "Maybe more than you think, but none as good as ours."

"Can I ask you another question?"

"You already did so just now – but sure."

Harry rolled his eyes, and ignored Will's silent laughter. "Why are you here? Sure, it sounds pretty cool for a camp and everything… but why?" He knew he should stop there, but there was something in Nico's expression that suddenly made Harry want to blurt everything out. So he did. "And you still haven't said why you're all teens! And – is this a sort of theme camp, because everything you just summed up sounds either Roman or Greek, and your armor…" Harry gestured to their swords, their clothes, their everything. "Let's just say it doesn't look like it was made in the twenty-first century. Plus, you guys said that only half-bloods could cross the borders, which means that you are either gullible, or the border is magical – and the fact you weren't surprised to see warriors made out of smoke suggests it's the latter. Yet you aren't like me. So what are you?"

"That wasn't _one_ question," Nico pointed out, but Harry merely lifted an eyebrow. He was getting his answers, and he wouldn't back down this time.

Harry let them think about it. It was obvious that they wanted to answer him – the fact that they weren't scowling, nor threatening him was enough for Harry to believe so.

So when they were silently walking for more than five minutes, even helping each other cross a narrow creek without saying a word, Harry didn't do anything to stop the silence. He let them think.

He helped the two guys to stumble through the woods – apparently the armor they were wearing was too big and clumsy to walk around in. He pointed out footprints with nonverbal communication. He pulled them towards the source of what he believed to be fighting. He was leading them without even realizing it so, and he was doing it without saying a word.

"Gods," Nico finally whispered after what seemed an eternity. His voice sounded soft, as if he didn't want to break the silence. "You're practically a younger Percy in everything."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I've never met the guy properly, so I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."

Will breathed in sharply. "It is."

The two other guys met gazes, and finally, Nico relented. "Oh, to Hades with it," Nico muttered under his breath, as a curse, and took Harry's hand to pull him closer. When Harry's complete focus was on the dark-haired boy, he let go. They had stopped walking. "Listen, I do want to answer your questions, okay? It's just that Annabeth told us not to – she said we had to leave you alone and leave the answering to her. To let you know everything in time, slowly, to not make you afraid or run away." Nico was obviously afraid of disobeying the girl he thought of as their leader – as much as he respected Percy – but his gaze met Harry's steadily. Nico had made his decision, and Harry felt his stomach unclench. "But we all had to learn the hard way. We never got the luxury of learning the truth slowly."

Will laughed softly, and Harry jumped – he'd forgotten the boy was there. "I remember when they told me – I believed everyone here to be barking mad and myself to be hallucinating!"

Nico smirked, his eyes not so cold when they looked at the blonde boy. "I however believed them instantly, but I had an advantage – I had already seen the proof." He breathed in sharply. "Listen. We go here to camp because it's safe for us – the only place in the world where people like us can live without the fear or running into monsters constantly."

"Monsters?" They had mentioned them before. "What kind of monsters?"

Nico wrinkled his nose. "Everything you can imagine." He started walking again, pulling Will with him. Harry followed instantly, this time not leading anymore. He didn't care in the slightest. "From manticores, to furies, to hellhounds.. we've fought them all, and more."

"Manti- what now?" Harry blinked a couple of times. "I've heard those names.. but – aren't those myths?" The Dursley's hadn't read fairytales to Harry, so he wasn't really known in the world of literature, but he knew his fair share. And he _knew_ that the monsters Nico just named, were monsters from ancient Greek times – from the myths of Odysseus and made-up heroes like Achilles and Heracles. Not real.

"Well," Will said cheerily, not breaking free from Nico's tight grip, "you were _mythtaken_."

Nico pushed him, hard, but that just made Will laugh more. Harry merely snorted.

"What Will here so delicately tried to say," Nico continued when Will's laughter finally ceased, "is that those aren't myths. They're very much true. Don't worry – I checked. But I'm guessing you're used to learning that things aren't how you always thought they were – seeing as you flew into camp on a broom?"

Harry shrugged, not being able to stop a smile. He was right. "Yeah," he admitted, thinking about his eleventh birthday. "But I lived in a magical world now for four years – and I've never heard of those monsters being real."

"We've never heard of people with wands, either." Nico pointed out, and Harry couldn't help but want to agree again. "But anyway… we live here. Safe. We train, just in case we're ordered to go out and save the world again." Will snorted in the background, and Harry didn't push it – for once. "You said the border had to be magical, and you're right. Only beings of half-blood are able to cross it. Chiron because he is a centaur, half-human, half-horse, and satyrs because they're –"

"Half goat half human?" Harry suggested.

"Yes." Nico's gaze met Harry's again.

"You called us abhorrent the other day," Will suddenly said, his voice sounding edgy, "and prejudiced because we said that only half-bloods could cross."

A blush crept up Harry's cheeks. "Yes, well, in my world, blood-status is a big issue for a lot of people. Purebloods deem themselves higher than the rest, because they think they're more magical and more important because of that. They even think half-bloods aren't worth having a wand – let alone those born from a family without a drop of magical blood. So naturally I thought this was some sort of rebellious camp, one to shun out purebloods and muggleborns alike… Sorry. I misjudged you."

Harry was happy to see that they believed him – because he truly had been sincere. These boy hadn't done anything wrong to him – they hadn't ordered him to be taken, they hadn't taken his wand away from him – and he wanted desperately to befriend them.

"Okay." Will said, a genuine smile on his face. "I believe you."

Nico said nothing about his apology, but he was smiling, too. "So the rumors are true. You're a wizard."

It wasn't a question, yet Harry answered. "Yes."

"And you're a half-blood wizard?"

"Yes."

Will sighed deeply. "This explains so much."

"Well," Harry brushed his bangs out of his face, watching Nico's eyes widen slightly at the sight of his scar, "I'm glad you feel satisfied. I, however, am still very much confused."

Nico's laugh sounded soft, as if he didn't do it often. "That I can understand. As you can see, we're no satyrs nor centaurs, and we aren't magical like you are."

"Yet you're able to cross the border."

"Yes." Nico locked gazes with Will, and he took a deep breath, as if he had made a decision. "We're half human, and half gods."

"Half _what now?"_

A sudden shriek ripped through the air, snapping Harry's head towards the source.

Nico's words were forgotten.

The absurdity of the statement 'half-god' was pushed back in Harry's mind, to be looked at later – because his priority was looking at him not two leagues away.

Fifty smoke warriors were waiting for them, their swords high up in the air, ready the battle Harry had feared they wanted. They had assembled together, forming a true army, and the biggest and buffest looking warrior was standing in front of them, shouting orders in a strange language. It seemed as if they had rebelled against their creators – because Harry knew that however talented the twins were, they could have never created such intelligent things. (And Harry actually hoped they weren't acting on the twins' orders, either, because he didn't dare to think that they had planned for them to be so hostile and dangerous.)

A group of ten teenagers had assembled at the edge of the woods, standing in the same positions as the warriors were. They were outnumbered, but they didn't look scared – and that was because of their leader, Perseus.

He was shouting at them, punching his chest with his fists like a true warrior, wanting to make his people feel excited and powerful. He was too far away to be heard, but even from this distance Harry could see his green eyes glowing with an angry fire, and the strange unnatural aura pulsing around him.

Harry's gaze switched to the crowd Perseus was leading into battle, and his eyes fell in the blonde girl – Annabeth.

The breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding slipped out. "My wand," he breathed, and Nico shuddered awake from his shock.

"We've got to get my wand," Harry pressed on, not caring that the warriors might hear him.

"Yes." This seemed to jar Nico into action, and he started pulling Harry with him towards the group of teenagers. "Don't make a sound, let me do the talking."

Harry nodded, and his eyes flipped back to the warriors. What were they waiting for?

The three boys slowly and silently made their way through the group, and finally they were close enough to hear Perseus' voice.

"- have you not? We have defeated the Titan's armies – sure we can defeat smoke?"

The blue-eyed girl, Thalia, cheered as a banshee. "Bet your skinny ass we can, Jackson!"

"Language, Thals," Perseus jokingly said, winking. How he could be this cheerful with a fight waiting to happen was a puzzle to Harry.

"Morning, Percy," Nico suddenly said, and stepped into the circle. "I see that you finally joined the party?"

Perseus's eyes narrowed slightly, but his mouth quirked upward. He was obviously happy to see the young boy. "Same could be said to you. Where were you?"

"I was held up."

"By who?"

"By whom," the blonde girl corrected, and Perseus rolled his eyes at her.

"By him." Nico nodded towards Harry, who stepped into the circle as well. Every eye switched to him, and every expression suddenly turned darker.

"Who let him out?" Perseus snarled angrily. His cheery but had evaporated within seconds. "He's the reason these warriors are here, what made you think it was smart to bring him here?"

Harry's anger flared up immediately. " _My_ fault? Are you kidding me? You are the one who kidnapped me, Jackson," he guessed it was Perseus' last name, and judging by his expression, he was right. "I warned you something would happen if you did, but you didn't listen."

"So you admit it then, _Potter_?" Perseus wasn't backing down. "You knew this would happen?"

"Of course not." Perseus was reminding him more and more of Draco – yet there was something in his eyes…The way Perseus' hands were shaking in anger… Then it suddenly clicked.

Perseus was _afraid_ of Harry. Sure, he would never admit it, not even to himself, but there was something about Harry that made Perseus feel on edge. Maybe it was the fact that he was a wizard, that he flew on a broom, or that his friends were powerful enough to create an army out of smoke – but Perseus' fear was enough to make Harry's anger deflate within seconds.

"I'll end this." Harry said, and his tone must've surprised Perseus, since his angry expression disappeared as well. "I'm sorry for the hurt my friends caused you – and I will end it."

The blonde girl eyed him wearily. "You're saying you didn't want this?"

"Of course not!" Harry felt the need to defend his friends. "And my friends probably didn't, either, but they don't understand. They think you're with vold- uh, with the enemy. They don't know you're just teenagers… I'm sure this wasn't what they'd intended to do."

"So why aren't they here to stop it?"

Harry's gaze flicked to Perseus's. His green eyes seemed doubting, wanting to believe Harry was right yet too afraid to trust him instantly. "They can't cross the border," he said. "They aren't half-bloods."

The blonde girl stepped closer. "And you are?"

"Yes." She blinked at his tone – she obviously hadn't expected him to be so sure about it.

"Though not in the way you think he is," Will added, grinning sheepishly.

The warriors started to walk.

The echoing sound of their footsteps traveled to the group of people, making the leaves and twigs and trees around them tremble slightly. The children looked up, and tried to swallow their fear.

"Listen, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, "I know we've defeated worse, but… we're with thirteen people. Not nearly enough to –"

"Give me my wand." Harry quickly said, not waiting for Annabeth to finish her sentence. "I can stop this – I know I can. Just give me my wand."

"I – I can't." She looked troubled, and for the first time Harry wasn't afraid to look her in the eye. She seemed like a normal teenage girl, not the hostile one he'd seen the other day. "We don't know you, and what if…"

The words she didn't say were loud enough to make the group of teenagers shift on their spot.

"I won't hurt you." Harry promised, feeling as though he'd gone mad. Yesterday he'd wanted to hurt them, badly, for taking his wand and broom and everything. He'd wanted to curse them for taking him away from his friends, he'd wanted to run away. Right now, however, he was ready to fight beside them. "Just, please..."

She took a deep breath, and gave him his wand.

Harry knew as no other that it was a significant sign. It was more than just giving him a piece of wood: the girl was saying that she trusted him to do the right thing.

And it made Harry feel warm.

"Thank you," he said, genuinely smiling. His wand was vibrating, as if it was just as happy to be reunited as Harry was, and tiny sparks of gold sparkled around the tip. "But I still haven't forgiven you for the ambush," he added, turning to Perseus.

The boy was smiling. Obviously he trusted Annabeth enough for her to make the decision: so if she trusted Harry, he had no objection not to. "I'm sorry I had Clarisse manhandle you."

Harry just grinned, and stepped forward. The warriors were almost with them, their footsteps growing louder with the second. They were close enough to see their glowing eyes, to see the sharpness of their blades in the flick of the light.

Now the only thing Harry had to do was defeat them.

But how?

He'd never encountered smoke warriors before, and the thing that had made the other one disappear was a sword through its heart… Harry's eyes glinted. _Got it._

Harry ignored the fact that he wasn't supposed to do magic out of school, that he was already in danger of being expelled – he just had to do something. He looked at the sky for a second, hoping to see anyone he knew hovering above (maybe the twins could call it off?) but there was no one in sight.

Harry took a deep breath, pointed at something above the warriors, and shouted: " _Baubillious!"_

A beam of hot white light shot from his wand through the air, sizzling as fire, piercing through the cold air and exploding above the warriors. Their attention momentarily focused elsewhere than the teens, Harry took advantage of its momentum and started running. He ignored the other teens gasping, he ignored the fact that Perseus was barking orders: and he lost himself in the running.

He had to get closer.

He couldn't miss.

And if he was wrong about this…

"Oy, ugly!" He yelled when he was close enough for them to hear him.

The boss, the one that had seemed like the boss anyway, looked at him. He looked too solid for Harry's taste, and too dangerous.

Harry tried not to think about his friends thinking he had switched sides – they surely wouldn't hate him for trying to stop the warriors? – and lifted his wand for the second time, aiming at the boss' heart. " _Confringo!"_

At first Harry's heartbeat stopped: it looked as if the smoky chest had just swallowed the spell, letting it disappear into nothingness. The blast disappeared, as did the sound of the shotgun it had made, and for a second it was silent enough to hear a pen drop onto the soft earth.

The warrior stepped forward, his gaze ever so deadly, until a white light burst through.

It was as if someone inside the warrior had flipped a switch, and turned on a bright lamp. Tiny spots of light shone through him, evaporating the smoke before Harry's own eyes, until there was nothing left of him.

The light, however, didn't stop – and one by one the warriors fell, disappearing in thin air before they even made the ground.

Harry had been right. The leader was connected to them all. More relieved than he cared to admit he turned around.

And saw every single teenagers staring at him with their mouths wide open.

"Uh," he said intelligently, blinking a couple of times. "Right."

"How the Hades…" Perseus started, his voice small. "Never have I ever…"

Harry shrugged, and that gesture made Perseus twitch a little. "Beginner's luck."

Someone laughed, but it sounded hollow. "Somehow I don't believe you're a beginner in this stuff."

Harry didn't contradict it. That wasn't unnoticed by Perseus and Annabeth. "Shall we just find my friends before they turn even angrier?"

Thalia stepped forward, one of the few who didn't look as if she had an heart-attack. "Right you are, Harry Potter. Let's find your friends and kick their butts."

 **x**

 **Okay… This chapter was a bit longer than anticipated.**

 **(I just couldn't stop – that's maybe why this ending seems so abrupt..)**

 **Some of you wondered whether I was going to turn this into a Harry/Nico fic or not – so let me tell you guys:**

 **This story is written for the plot, not for the romance. You'll see some Percabeth, some hinting Solangelo (maybe, I'm not sure about that yet) but I respect J.K. Rowling and R.R. Riordan too much to disrespect their ships and their timings. So I won't go all mushy and fluffy. Don't like, don't read.**

 **Anyway – let me know what you guys thought of ass-kicking Harry!**

 **Oh, and I'm going to respond to my anonymous reviews:**

 _Matt: Yes, he does… And this is after 'The Last Olympian', so Percy's 16 here._

 _Guest: I'm sorry it's torture for you, but it's for me too, seeing as I'm terribly busy and I love writing it.. I do my best to update as often as I can._

 _Stu: Hey Stu! Glad to see you're not dead. But, seeing as you reviewed, maybe you're not the Stu I wrote about?_

 _IDoWhatIWant: Okay, your review made me giggle. And thank you, so much_ _J_

 _CloakofPoseidon: excuse your language. (But thanks !)_

 _Luna: Thanks! And Harry IS a half-blood. No god. Just himself._

 _Amadan: Yes, they're short. And Harry isn't a whimp, I hope this chapter was to your satisfaction in that aspect?_

 _Twilight4ever: Of course I remember you, sweetheart! How could I not? Just seeing your 'name' up there made me smile like a doofus. Thank you for saying so, and I'm sorry you can't read it again… You were one of my favorite fans. I can always send it to you, if you want to, but I can't do that seeing as you're an anonymous reader… Make an account, message me, and we can see what I can do for you, okay? Love, x._

 _PJHPfangirl: Aw, thank you!_

 **Sorry. That was a bit long.**

 **Review!**


	12. Switching Wands and Swords

**Author's note:** special thanks to my sweetest friend, _StellaTheReviewer._ Love.

* * *

 **Chapter 12**

 **Switching Wands and Swords**

"So." Perseus said, walking up front with Harry next to him. "You _are_ a wizard, then."

They, the two raven-haired boys and their 'gang' a few steps behind them, were walking through the dark forest trying to make their way back to the main cabins, hoping to find Harry's friends flying above the open space. Annabeth had suggested that to be the first place to start looking, and everyone had agreed pretty quickly.

"Yeah." Harry answered nonchalantly, fidgeting with his wand.

"But you have to say certain words?"

"What'd you mean?"

Perseus sighed, and looked behind him. Annabeth was eyeing them curiously, but she didn't say anything. She obviously thought he had to struggle all by himself to get the answers. It seemed to pain Perseus to find the right words to say, as if Harry would run away if he said something wrong, but he tried anyway. "You shouted some pretty weird words to make your magic work – Latin words?"

"Sort of." Harry didn't feel angry anymore. Sure, he knew he was going to get back at them for handling his captivity so harshly, but he figured that the wrath of the twins had been punishment enough. "I have to say the right incarnation to get the result I want. Like, if I say _Lumos,"_ the tip of Harry's wand lighted, "my wand creates a light. I can't do it by saying 'light up'. It doesn't work that way."

Perseus' eyes were huge, staring at the wand as if it had just – well, performed magic. Up close Harry saw that the green of Perseus' eyes wasn't emerald, like his was, but more of a dark greenish sea color. So much for being look-a-likes. "How do you dim it?"

" _Nox."_

The light disappeared immediately. Perseus' enthusiasm, however, didn't. "That is so _cool,"_ he admitted reluctantly. "Can I try?"

For a split second Harry felt compelled to say, ' _No_ '. After all, nothing the other guy had done to him the past two days had been kind, nor considerate. He had been dragged into camp, stolen of his wand, yelled at, shoved around, and threatened. Perseus had been the one to order all that; he'd only started to converse like a decent human being after Harry had saved them all from the smoke monsters.

But staring at the sincere curiosity the American boy had written all over his face, seeing his genuine smile… and Harry had no other choice but to give him the wand.

Behind them, someone took a sharp breath, and Harry knew instantly that it had been Annabeth. She probably understood the significance of that gesture more than Perseus ever could.

"Thanks, dude," Perseus said, smiling broadly. "Lumos!"

Nothing happened.

Perseus started waving the wand around, yelling, "Lumos!" as if his life depended on it. "Lumos, stupid piece of wood, _LUMOS!"_ He looked ready to scratch someone's eyes out, and Harry was sure he had broken a few ribs trying not to laugh at Perseus' face. "Why isn't this working?"

"I _may_ have forgotten to mention that you have to be a wizard to be able to do it," Harry said, happy to see Perseus disappointed expression slip into an annoyed one. "Oops."

Perseus shoved him, ignoring the roaring laughter behind them. "Bugger off, Harry Potter."

He snatched his own wand back, smirking. "Mind your language, Percy Jackson. There are children present."

" _You,_ you mean?"

"Grow up."

"Your _mom_ needs to grow up –"

"Boys!" Annabeth intervened, stepping in between them quickly, a scolding expression on her face. "This childish bickering is even worse than your usual fights with Thalia, Perce!"

"Hey!" The girl in question, Thalia, yelled. "Don't drag me into this!"

Annabeth ignored her, not taking her eyes off Perseus. Harry was strangely reminded of Molly Weasley – and he felt down-right terrified and guilty at the same time under the glare of Annabeth Chase. He had a feeling her grey eyes could see everything he was thinking, and he was glad that he wasn't Perseus at the moment.

"Sorry, Wise Girl," Perseus muttered under his breath. " _Though he started!"_ He added quickly, smirking when Harry glared at him.

The girl groaned, and put her hands up in the air. "Honestly, Percy! You sound like a whining child! Aren't you supposed to be _the_ hero of Olympus?"

Harry's eyes lit up. This wasn't the first time people referred to Perseus as their savior, their chosen one – names Harry wasn't unfamiliar with. "Did you just call him –"

Then something came rushing back to him, and he froze on the spot, the other half of his sentence stuck in his throat.

How could he have forgotten?

How could he have been so _stupid?_

 _'We're half-human,'_ Nico had said before they had been interrupted by a one-man battle with smoke, ' _and half-gods.'_

Half-gods.

"Harry?" Annabeth asked, also stopping with walking, and she put her hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

He opened his mouth to answer… and closed it again.

"He looks like he's having a heart-attack." Perseus doomed up in Harry's vision, waving his hands wildly. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Harry just blinked. _They have to be kidding. This can't be real._

"Do I have to press a start-up button or something?"

Annabeth slapped Perseus, but he didn't even wince. "Don't be ridiculous. It seems as if he… I don't know… realized something dreadful?"

Someone behind them swore, loudly. "That might be my fault."

"Di Angelo," Annabeth said with a sigh, without looking behind her as if she had expected him to be the culprit all along, "what did you do?"

"Well, I might've _slightly_ mentioned that we –"

"Are half-gods." Harry finished, his voice as dead as he felt. "That you guys are half-bloods. Of the gods."

The cry " _Nico!"_ came from all sides of him, but Harry didn't care.

Because it couldn't be true, right? Sure, the teenagers had dressed up like Greek or Roman heroes – with swords and capes and everything – they had mentioned monsters like hell-hounds, they were living with a centaur and they had an oracle, but –

Oh, who was he kidding. He himself was a _wizard_ for Merlin's sake. He wasn't supposed to be real, too.

" _Gods_ ," he repeated, feeling his heartbeat slowly return to a regular one. "Your parents… Are the gods _."_ Maybe if he said it often enough he would wake from this weird dream.

"Well," Perseus began slowly, his eyes darting between Harry and Annabeth nervously, "Yes."

Groaning, Harry put his head in his hands. "This has to be the worst summer vacation _ever_."

Someone doomed up behind him, and grasped him firmly by his shoulders. It was Thalia, grinning like a madman, and she steered Harry forward with the group following them. "Don't worry, kid," she said cheerfully, "It all seems worse than it actually is. Those guys are mortal, like you are, and we won't blast you to bits or anything."

Under normal circumstances he would've shoved her away. Right now, however, he was glad to have her strength holding him up, afraid he'd collapse if he ran away. "So it's true, then. It's not a myth."

"What's not a myth?"

Annabeth stepped beside Harry, and she was rolling her eyes. "C'mon, Thals. He means the gods, obviously."

"Yeah." Harry said, his throat still too dry. "Obviously."

"They're real," Will said cheerily from somewhere behind Harry. "And I wouldn't say they're _not_ too loudly – they've got a temper."

"The gods have got a temper. Of course. Should've known."

"No need to be so sarcastic about it," Thalia remarked dryly, and grinned when Harry glared at her. "It's all a bit shocking, yes, I know. We've all been there. But you'll get there in the end."

"So – so how does this work? I mean," He scratched his throat, trying to focus on his feet stumbling through the grass, "How… how can there be… Immortal beings? And – who… what… I just…"

"Listen." Annabeth seemed to pity him, and smiled reassuringly. Her eyes were for the first time warm. "All you need to know is that the Greek gods, immortal beings like Poseidon and Zeus, are real. They're still alive. They… _lie_ with humans. They create off-spring." She gestured to herself and all the teens walking behind them. "Us."

"But…" Harry was desperate to either be knocked unconscious or a have glass of water to ease the pain in his throat, "Why haven't we heard about it? The world, I mean. Shouldn't it be kind of… obvious of gods existed? And what about science? Doesn't the moon control the tides – _not_ a god?"

Thalia finally let go of him, and he was happy to say that he did not collapse, thanks very much. "There's this fancy thing called the Mist. It clogs up the mind of mortals, so they can't see what's happening right in front of them. Like, if I would take a stroll with Mrs O'Leary, who is a hell-hound by the way, through Central Park… all you'd see is a happy but slightly over-grown puppy."

"Hell-hound? Mrs O'Leary?" He sighed, shaking his head. _Priorities._ "So who… who are your parents then?"

Thalia smiled wickedly at Harry, before spreading her arms and taking a slight bow. "My father is Zeus, Lord of the Sky and King of Olympus."

Perseus shoved her. "Show-off."

She just winked. "Don't you know it."

"Yup." Harry concluded, blinking a couple of times too many, trying to see the resemblance between the girl standing in front of him and art he'd seen of Zeus. "I'm definitely losing it."

She barked a laugh. "You're not – though I don't blame you for thinking that. Percy over here fainted when he fought off his first monster –"

"Second." He corrected automatically. "And for the record: I fainted _after_ defeating it."

Harry turned his head to look at the boy. Sure, he'd looked dangerous, but he was still just sixteen years old or something. What kind of monsters could he have beaten? "After defeating what, exactly?"

"The Minotaur." Perseus answered dryly.

 _Oh dear Merlin. Please wake me up now._

Annabeth must've read some of Harry's panic on his face, and she quickly pulled him away from Perseus and Thalia. "Ignore them now, Harry. Try not to think about it too much or it'll just overwhelm you."

"I'm not overwhelmed," he said quickly. Too quickly. "I've just never met a daughter of Zeus before."

"'t is a pleasure!" Thalia yelled, and Harry couldn't help but smile slightly.

"My mom's Athena," Annabeth said after a while of just walking in silence. "Most kids here at camp have got parents like Hermes, Apollo, Ares… I'm not sure if you know them?"

Harry shook his head. "I know of Zeus – he's the god of lightning, right? – and Poseidon and Hades… And I've heard of Athena, I guess. She was the smart one, right?"

"Is." She corrected, grinning when Harry rolled his eyes at her. "But yes. She's the goddess of wisdom and warfare."

He looked over at Annabeth. "I'm sorry, but you just look like a normal human being. Not godly or anything."

"I am not a god," she reminded him with a grin, "My mom is. I can die just as easily as you can and I've got no special powers or anything – except my brain." _And your analytic and scary eyes,_ Harry wanted to say, but he thought that wouldn't be safe for his own health. "Only children of the most powerful gods have powers resembling those of immortal beings."

"So Thalia's pretty powerful then?"

"And immortal!" The girl called behind them.

Harry turned his neck so quickly it cracked painfully. He didn't care. "You're _immortal?"_

She nodded. "Yup." Her mouth popped at the last 'p'. "I'm one of the huntresses of Artemis, which means –"

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Thalia, what did I _just_ say about not overwhelming him?"

"Right." Thalia winked at Harry, but obeyed the order. "Sorry, Wise Girl."

Harry could feel a headache coming up, and he groaned inwardly. "I'm still convinced you're all lying; despite my better judgement."

"Isn't it _in spite of_ your better judgement?" Annabeth suggested, but sighed deeply when Harry just stared at her. "We can prove it to you, if you want to… but I don't think that's a good idea."

"What do you mean, prove? You can't… like… ask a _god_ to come by… and…" Harry groaned for real this time. "Nope. Can't do this."

They were still walking through the forest, but Harry could slowly feel the wind picking up again, taking some warmth with it. Obviously they were getting closer to the Fire and the main cabins where they'd been the other night – but somehow he wasn't ready to face the possibility to see his friends just yet.

"I can prove that it's real." Perseus offered with a sly smile. "Here." He handed Harry a pen.

"Uh – thanks, but I don't think writing it all down will help?"

He laughed. "Uncap it."

Harry didn't see why this had anything to do with proving everything, but he did what he was told. He uncapped the pen, and almost dropped it instantly. "What the –"

The bronze and dangerous sword Perseus had threatened him with all the time had suddenly appeared in his hands, replacing the tiny and very normal pen. It was a heavy, yet balanced, sword with the word 'Anaklusmos' written on the side. The grip was leathered, and the hilt was flat and riveted with tiny golden studs. "Nice." Harry finally said, his voice tiny.

Percy's laugh was low. "Yeah. That's Riptide. Hercules' old sword."

"Hercules." He repeated, trying to comprehend everything.

"Yes." Perseus' eyes locked with Harry's, and he smirked. "Now stab me with it."

He almost dropped it for the second time. "W-what?"

"Stab me." He opened his arms wide, as if to give him a hug, offering Harry his chest. "Even unexperienced kids like you should know the trick."

"You want me to _stab_ you?" Somehow this was weirder than the kids around him being related to gods. "With your own sword? Dude – you're mental."

"Yup."

Harry looked at Annabeth in disbelief, but she was nodding at him, as if this was a perfectly logical thing to do. Even Thalia looked more eager than surprised, and none of the other kids were trying to stop Harry from potentially hurting their leader.

"I'm not going to stab you," Harry said stubbornly.

"Fine." Perseus rolled his eyes and took his sword back, before driving it casually into his own stomach.

" _No!"_ Harry yelled, his scream stuck in his throat.

Yet Perseus kept smiling, no sign of any pain on his features. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly, lifting his shirt to let Harry know nothing had happened. No blood. No fatal stab-wound. "See? Nothing happened."

"H…how?"

"Do you know the story about Achilles?"

"The guy with the heel?"

Thalia snorted, but Perseus ignored that. Harry did, too. "Yes, the guy with the heel. He was dipped in a river, called the river Styx, to make his skin iron and invincible. I kind of did the same thing."

Harry blinked a couple of times too much. "You've got the same powers as Achilles. _The_ Achilles."

"Kind of." He shrugged. "My heel isn't sensitive like his, though. And my mother isn't the goddess Thetis." He added, as if just remembering that.

"And you aren't gay," Annabeth added cheekily.

"As far as you are aware!" Thalia said.

Annabeth shoved her playfully. "I think I would've noticed by now if Percy was gay."

"If you're done," Perseus said, rolling his eyes, "I think we're overwhelming Harry."

Harry chuckled. "Understatement."

The longer they were talking, the more Harry grew convinced that they were telling the truth. Firstly because, well, Perseus should've been stabbed to death. ('Riptide' wasn't exactly harmless.) Secondly because they hadn't been all that surprised at finding out that wizards were real. Thirdly – well, Harry just had a gut feeling that they were telling the truth, a tingling feeling in his whole body that he sort of had known all along that they weren't fully human.

And knowing that Thalia was immortal – it was as if he was seeing her for the first time, suddenly noticing that she was standing different than the rest of them were, more upright, more calm and confident. And she had a buzzing aura…

All with all, Harry's headache seemed to lessen with the second.

"Anyhow," Annabeth said after a long moment of silence, "I think we should just… go on. Your friends are probably waiting for you, Harry."

He shuddered awake from his thoughts. "Okay."

 _Zeus._ He thought, jumping across the creek. _Poseidon._ He thought, dodging branches. _Gods._ He concluded, looking at the teenagers following him. This was a weird summer, and he was sure it would take a long time and a whole lot of convincing for him to believe it fully, but he was getting there. Slowly.

Then he remembered something. "Hold up," he called to Thalia, and she jogged to catch up with him. "So oracles are real, too?"

"Oh, yeah." She nodded solemnly, and helped him climb up a small hill. She was a whole lot stronger than she looked, but somehow he wasn't surprised. "All prophecies are, too. You heard the new one yesterday?"

 _Unfortunately._ "So I'm in a _real_ prophecy."

She clasped his shoulders quickly before letting go. "Kind of. Sorry, kid."

He shook his head. "No, it's fine. Just gotta… sink in, I think."

"You're not alone in this, you know." She pointed at Perseus, who was struggling to unhook his armor from a bush. (Annabeth was laughing at him, not even trying to conceal the fact that she wasn't helping him.) "Percy's in it, too."

"But –" Harry blinked. " _Oh_. Son of the sea god?"

"That's the one."

 _Right. Okay, then._ "Figures."

She giggled. "You're taking this better than I expected you would."

Harry looked up incredulously. "How so?"

She pointed at his wand, an eyebrow raised. "I at least expected you to curse us for… I don't know. Something."

"You're just kids," he reminded her kindly, but sighed. "I don't know. I wanted to, at first. You _did_ abduct me and everything. But…" his voice faltered.

"But you had the feeling we were supposed to get along?"

He locked gazes with the immortal daughter of Zeus. Her eyes were older than her fifteen-year-old body, and full of understanding. "Yes," he admitted reluctantly.

She took a deep breath. "Me too. Maybe it's the prophecy and everything, but I just can't seem to hate you, though I wanted to –"

"Gee, thanks."

She shoved him, a smile tucking at her lips. "Nothing personal, kid – you'd just crashed into my tree, that's all."

" _Your_ tree?"

 _"HARRY!"_

He jumped up, a not-so manly cry escaping his throat. Thalia had grabbed his arm, her tight grip almost pulling it out of its sockets. "What the –"

They had arrived at the twelve cabins surrounding the fireplace. It looked just like it had the other night – though Harry was now able to see them all clearly – and for a moment it was as if nothing had changed.

That was until a second ' _Harry_!' made him look up at the roof of a cabin – the eleventh cabin, with the brown withered paint and a caduceus printed on the door.

He smiled so broadly he was afraid his face was going to break in two.

There, floating a bit above the roof, were his best friends waving frantically at him. It wasn't just the twins, as he had expected, but Ron and Ginny were flying there, too, and even Sirius was sitting on a broom.

"Ron!" He bellowed, and he broke into a run. "Sirius!"

"Harry!" Sirius yelled back, but he didn't fly any closer. "Thank Merlin! Are you all right?"

"Yes – yes, I'm fine!"

He couldn't believe it. They were all here – except Lupin and Hermione – and they all seemed healthy and fine and unharmed. He knew it'd only been a day and night, but it seemed so much longer.

"I see you've got your wand back?" Fred said, smirking at him. "Good to see you, dude. Though I have to say you're late."

"Yeah." George winked. "Your version of 'ten minutes' is kind of longer than ours."

"I was held up." He was standing in front of the cabin now, straining his neck to look at his friends. He couldn't get enough of the sight of them, and he tried to drink in all of their features. "By _your_ warriors, I should mention."

"Oh – right." Fred had at least the decency to blush. "Sorry about that. They were more difficult to control than we expected."

"Though you have to admit they were cool," George said quickly, "weren't they?"

"Oh, yes, very cool. Until one of them tried to slash me to bits."

 _"What?"_

He ignored Fred's shocked expression, and turned to Sirius. His godfather was smiling, but he looked tired, as if he hadn't slept at all the last 48 hours. And his stomach ached knowing he'd caused all that. "Sorry to worry you, Sirius."

His godfather immediately smiled broader, as if to reassure him. "No – no, it's all right. It's not your fault you got abducted."

"Yeah," Perseus and the rest of the teens doomed up from the woods, all of them a daunting and cautious expression on their face, their swords and daggers out. "That fault lies entirely with me."

The perplexed look on Ron's face made Harry laugh. "Wait a minute – _Harry_?"

Perseus crinkled his nose. "My name is Percy Jackson. So, no."

Ginny blinked a couple of times too many, and groaned, "I'm getting a headache."

"Tell me about it," Harry said darkly, and the half-bloods laughed.

"

* * *

 **Right, okay.**

 **Sorry – this chapter is all talk and no action. Next chap'll be better, though. (I hope)**

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	13. A Very Sirius Conversation

**Author's note:** Two things. One: this chapter is, again, mostly talk. Sorry. It's just that they all have to learn about the other world gently, with the proper reaction, and I don't reckon Ron's going to accept his best friend's abduction in ten sentences. Two: I am so terribly sorry for the long wait. The last couple of days have been.. difficult. (A very special thanks to _StellaTheReviewer_ for being there, and generally mothering me. You should all thank her rather than me for the new chapter.)

* * *

 **Chapter 13**

 **A Very Sirius Conversation**

It seemed like it was a normal day.

Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the campfire of Camp Half-Blood was whistling silently. If you'd listened closely you'd be able to hear the waves rolling down on the ocean's bank. Everything suggested that today was a pretty normal day – that was, of course, until you took a closer look.

Damage was apparent everywhere; some trees had been burned, bushes were still sizzling with smoke, and the ground was trampled together in a muddy pile as if a whole army had run across it. The culprits were absent – maybe defeated, maybe gone home to celebrate their victory – and its enemies were trying their best to repair any damage that had been done. Girls around the age of ten, eleven, were running around with buckets of water to put out any lasting fires. Children with white aprons were shouting at others, ordering them to get back to sleep, waving their vitals with ambrosia and nectar around.

It was early, but the whole camp was buzzing with activity, worry, and adrenaline.

And the source of it all was found by the shaggiest-looking cabin, the Hermes cabin, where four wizards and one witch were floating up in the air on their brooms – all staring at the look-a-like of their wizarding friend, Harry Potter.

"But," Fred Weasley spluttered, "That's – Harry – did that guy take some of your Polyjuice potion?"

"What's Polyjuice Potion?" Annabeth asked curiously, and Harry whispered back; "a potion to change your appearance at will", before rolling his eyes and saying to Fred: "No."

"In my opinion," Perseus said jokingly, though he still hadn't sheathed his sword, "he just looks a lot like me, not the other way around."

"Get lost," Harry snapped.

"Get lost yourself, kid," this time Perseus was smiling a bit, "I am the older one, it doesn't make sense to say I look like you when –"

"Stop." Ginny held up her hand. She still looked slightly sick, her eyes constantly shifting from Harry to Percy. "Just – stop. This can't – _he_ can't – I mean –"

Ron laughed, but it sounded hollow, as if he accidentally missed a couple cases on the stairs. "Are you sure he didn't take Polyjuice potion, mate?"

A hard sigh from Annabeth – a ' _hey_!' from Perseus in protest – and all the Weasley's and Sirius' eyes widened. Annabeth had pushed up Perseus' bangs, revealing that his forehead was.. clear. No lightning scar.

"Right," Sirius said after a while. "This isn't certainly what I was suspecting to see this morning." His sheepish and confused look suddenly turned into a menacing one, and Harry winced. Something of the warmth that had shone in his godfather's eyes when he'd first set eyes on him disappeared, and Sirius turned to look Perseus right in the eye. "You," he said, his voice shaking from withheld anger, "you abducted Harry."

" _Technically_ –"

"Yes?" Harry offered, but was silenced by a glare from Annabeth. Apparently not the best timing for a joke, then.

"You did." Sirius snarled. It was obvious that he wasn't going to be cheerful about this. "You took him from his wand, you took away his broom, and you held him against his will at this camp. That's abduction if you'd ask me. Have you got _any_ idea who he is?"

Harry groaned. "Sirius – please, it's all right, they didn't –"

Annabeth, however, seemed intrigued. "What do you mean, ' _who he is'_?"

"It's not important," Harry said quickly, trying to prevent a big scene coming up, "he's exaggerating –"

"No, he isn't." Perseus suddenly said, his voice flat. He turned to face Harry. "You said… when we, er, took you… you said ' _I'm Harry Potter – you can't just keep me here!'_. Why did you say it like that?"

Harry blushed, trying to ignore his best friend Ron sniggering in the background. "I panicked, all right? It blurted out –" and god, how much he wished he hadn't said anything at all – "it isn't anything significant."

Sirius groaned to get attention, and he brushed his hair out of his eyes in annoyance. "This scene, this thing, right here, it's just too confusing on so many levels. First, Harry, your look-a-like shows up with a _sword_ that looks as if it's thousands of years old," _well,_ Harry thought amusedly, _he isn't wrong,_ "they aren't confused to see us flying on brooms, they fought off our fireworks and smoke as if they're used to seeing weird stuff – and yet they don't know who you are? Merlin, kid – _every_ witch and wizard in the world knows your name!"

All demigods turned towards Harry, and he scratched his throat nervously. "They aren't witches and wizards."

"Then what are they?"

"Who are _you_?" Nico said slowly when Harry hadn't answered his godfather. He stepped out from the crowd of people, his sword still in his hand, and his smile had disappeared. Harry saw Ginny's eyes widen slightly at the sight of the boy – she was obviously frightened a bit by the deadened look the guy radiated.

"I'm just Harry," Harry snapped angrily. "It's not important. Why don't you all fly down –"

"They can't, remember?" Annabeth said, "Only half-bloods are able to cross."

Sirius' anger flashed in his eyes, and his mouth turned into a snarl which would make Snape jealous. " _What?_ Are you crazy? How prejudiced and _sick_ are you to make a camp where muggleborns and purebloods can't enter? I can't even _begin_ to –"

And the half-bloods started laughing.

They probably shouldn't have done, because Sirius would turn even more monstrous, but even Harry had difficulty not to put up a smile. He had apparently echoed his own godfather's words without realizing he did so, and it made his own chest fill with pride. Sirius would surely think he'd gone mad, 'laughing alongside the enemy' and all, but all Harry could think about right now was how deeply he loved his godfather.

Sirius, not knowing what Harry was thinking, grabbed his wand a little tighter, eager to hex the demigods into oblivion. "Are you _laughing_ at me?"

"No," Harry said, his mouth quirking up slightly, "I'm being quite serious."

The twins groaned – and for a second it seemed as if Sirius was about to join in on the old joke… but he didn't. Harry's dream of a peaceful alliance evaporated. It wasn't going to work. At least, not quickly.

"Don't you think it's sick?" Sirius asked after a while, obviously thinking Harry had lost it. "I thought _you_ of all people –"

Harry quickly put up his hands. "Don't get me wrong, even I thought they were abhorrent and racist at first, too –"

"Hey!" Thalia groaned, but Harry rolled his eyes, and continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"But they don't mean it like we think they do – and the border doesn't work like that. They mean _literal_ half-bloods; like centaurs, satyrs," he tried to come up with more examples, anything that wasn't ' _half-god'_ , "werewolves, and half-blood wizards."

"But _why?"_ they all asked at the same time. "And why did they take you?" Fred added.

"It's –" Harry started thinking. How he accidentally stumbled into camp, how he'd been dragged for his trial by the centaur named Chiron and their Oracle, how he'd slept on a wooden floor and how Lupin had visited him in the middle of the night. How his alarm had consisted of warriors made up by smoke, how he'd seen wolves made of fire run through the woods chasing campers. How he'd at first defeated a smoke warrior using Nico's sword, and how he'd defeated a whole army of them by himself. How he'd found out the truth about these children, how he'd almost accepted the possibility of the existence of the Greek gods and their off-spring; and what part he played in their prophecy to come. Then Harry looked up to his friends, and tried to come up with a short and to-the-point explanation of it all… and yet the only thing that came out his mouth was one simple word: "- complicated."

"Well," Perseus said, trying to be cheerful though he was still victim of Sirius' glare, "he isn't wrong."

Fred ran his hands through his hair, and sighed. "What if you explained how you came into camp, Harry?"

"Yeah," George continued, "just start at the beginning and see how complicated it really is."

"Fine." Harry took a deep breath. "You know why I flew away yesterday, since I had to chase the Quaffle – "

"The _what_ now?"

He glared at Annabeth, who put up her hands, as if to say, _oops, wrong timing!_

"So, anyway. I crashed into a tree –" Harry pointedly ignored Ginny's laughter, "- and stumbled into this lot. They were quite curious how I'd landed in their camp…"

And so he went on. He didn't know why his friends stayed silent for a long time, but he was grateful. It was too complicated and chaotic any way without constant interruption. When he got to the part where Perseus had taken away his wand, Sirius growled like an angry wolf, but he didn't say anything. For the first time Harry was grateful for the border keeping them apart, worried for what his godfather might've done if he could've touched Perseus.

They'd all stayed silent – maybe growling, groaning, muttering curses and varieties of this under their breath – until Harry told them about the Prophecy.

At this point Sirius looked ready to strangle every single demigod with his bare hands. "What?" he snarled, his voice so low and soft that it made Harry's hairs stand on end. This was the Sirius that had scared him, that had made him belief that Sirius was indeed a mass-murderer out to get him. "Could you repeat that?"

Harry raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. " _The boy blessed with lightning and his friends of gold, shall travel with the sea god's son and company of old, to stop the dark snake's rise to power once more –"_ Sirius wasn't the only one to swear loudly at the mention of 'the dark snake', but Harry continued hastily. _"Facing pain and deadly losses to stop a war. Unifying their wands and swords against all odds –"_

 _"To save the world before the solstice of the gods."_ Perseus finished softly. He'd finally sheathed his sword, and he was staring with a dark and serious expression at Harry's friends, as if afraid for their reaction.

Ron started laughing hollowly. "Mate, you know as well as anyone that prophecies are rubbish. Look at Trelawney,"

" _Professor_ Trelawney, Ron," George corrected cheekily, but his younger brother ignored him.

"She predicted you to die at least a hundred times last year already, and you haven't dropped dead yet."

"He gave it a good try, though," Sirius muttered darkly, but composed himself quickly. "There are prophecies who _are_ true, Ron. Your Divination teacher sure hasn't been the most believable 'Seer' of her generation, but there is a whole department at the Ministry dedicated to real-life prophecies, ones that came true."

Ginny snorted. "Even _if_ that's real, how would you know, Sirius? It isn't as if you've ever heard one?"

Sirius' eyes flickered to Harry, before quickly shooting back to the redheaded girl. "I have."

Harry felt as if he'd just been punched in the gut. " _Sirius_ –"

His godfather quickly held up his hand. "Now isn't the time. Let's just focus on this one, shall we? So you're saying an oracle said you have to work together with this lot to stop Voldemort?"

Annabeth gaped at him, her eyes flickering over the red-heads who all winced at the same time. "To stop who now?"

Sirius ignored her. "But how do you know you've got to work with _them?_ They only mentioned you, and your so-called 'gold' friends?"

"And the sea god's son." Harry whispered.

Silence fell.

Harry was pretty convinced that his godfather had stopped breathing – either that, or he had just been stunned. It wasn't until he cooked a brow and started fidgeting on his feet nervously that Sirius' mouth opened. "Wait." He looked paler then he had done earlier, which was saying something. "He can't… it has to be some sort of title…"

"It isn't." Percy waved cheerfully, a smirk on his face. "Harry's the boy blessed with lightning –"

"Though it isn't a blessing, really," Harry muttered.

"- and I'm the sea god's son."

Sirius stared at Harry for a few more seconds in complete confusion, before bursting into laughter. Loudly. So loudly, actually, that it sounded more like barking than laughter. "You've lost it, Harry."

Harry crossed his arms. "I have not!" he said stubbornly. "These people, they're the off-spring of the gods –"

The twins of doom – a nickname he'd overheard in a conversation between Nico and Will, which seemed quite fitting – interrupted him by laughing as if he'd just told them the funniest joke in the last century. "Seriously?" George said incredulously. "Don't start," he added quickly, turning to Sirius who'd put his hands up innocently as if to say; ' _what; me?'_

"I'm being honest –" Harry continued, this time with a lot more anger, but was yet again interrupted.

"Hermione is going to skin you alive for believing in that nonsense," Ron said dryly. "Gods are… not real. Even you must know that, right?"

He was so not in the mood for this.

 _Not again, at least._

"Maybe you need a demonstration?" Perseus offered shyly, laughing when Annabeth glared at him. "What? It could actually help?"

"They're confused enough as it is," she muttered, running her hands through her already disheveled hair. "Maybe it's easier to let them see the video?"

"The _what_ now?" Ron's expression almost made Harry laugh. He looked more confused at the word 'video' than 'sea god's son', and if that didn't make Harry want to run away hard and die from laughter, it was the fact that the demigods looked as if his best friend had lost his marbles.

"A _video,_ " Will said, speaking for the first time since arriving at the cabins. "Surely you've heard of it?"

Ron's ears reddened, and his speech fastened. "Actually, I haven't. I mean, I wasn't raised by muggles and I'm sure it's another of those things that may seem obvious to you but –"

"Doesn't matter," Harry interrupted quickly. "Ron, it's sort of like your moving pictures, but with sound and everything."

Ron put up his hands in surrender, grinning. "That's all you needed to say."

If Annabeth had been fazed by Ron's lack of knowledge in simple things like a video, she didn't show it. "We can show them that, and then they'll be more understanding." She turned to Harry. "We show that introduction video to every new camper, so they know what world they're getting into and everything. Explaining it over and over again to people who think you're barking mad can be quite tiring."

Harry tried to imagine having this conversation multiple times a week.

He got tired just thinking about it.

"Yeah," he said after a while, sighing deeply. "Let's try that."

"We don't need to watch it," Fred said stubbornly, "as it isn't true."

"Yeah," George said. "Gods aren't real."

"They are." Harry stared at the both of them, his chin raised in the air and his arms crossed. He wasn't in the mood for this, and his frustration was bubbling underneath his skin ready to burst out. "You have to trust my word on this."

Sirius and Ron crossed looks, looking torn.

Harry quickly took advantage of their doubt, and said a little louder: "You _do_ trust me, right?"

"Of course we do," was Sirius' immediate reaction.

"Well, then," he said, smirking despite himself, "What harm will watching that video do?"

"Shouldn't we, you know, wait for Professor Lupin and Hermione?" Ginny said suddenly. "Before deciding if we're watching that vemeo thing."

Harry blushed in shame. He'd forgotten about them. "Where are they?"

"Searching for _you_ ," Sirius snarled, though his eyes were warm when they locked with Harry's. He wasn't mad, Harry knew, he was just worried and tired. "You were abducted, remember? Against your will? It seems as if we've all forgotten that fact."

"They did it for a reason, Sirius!" Harry took a deep breath to calm himself down. "They know just as well as you and I do that you can't ignore… the prophecy." He saw Ron roll his eyes, and added: "We can't ignore the mention of –" for a second he wanted to say ' _Voldemort_ ', but figured that would just make the demigods curious, "- _You-Know-Who,_ Ron."

The red-head sighed. "I know we can't. It just sucks, that's all."

"Fine." Sirius said suddenly, a torn expression on his face. "I'll watch that bloody video, that thing explaining why we shouldn't hex those kids into oblivion."

Harry's breathed, as if something Hippogriff-heavy had suddenly lifted from his chest. "Thank you, Sirius –"

"Hold up." His godfather hold up his hand, smirking. "I wasn't done. I'll watch it, if, and only _if_ : I can punch that kid." He pointed at Perseus, who just quirked a brow.

Harry's look-a-like started laughing, but it sounded different. A little lighter, somehow. A little too cheerful. "Are you barking mad? No deal."

Annabeth nudged him, and whispered so Harry's friends couldn't hear, "Perce… we need them. We need to work together."

He looked at her incredulously. "Are you seriously considering this?"

"Yes."

Thalia snorted.

Perseus muttered a curse under his breath, and turned to his friends behind him. "Well? What do you guys think?"

"Let him punch you." Nico said immediately, smirking. "It's a small sacrifice."

"I'd seal the deal," Will was also smirking, as if he'd enjoy watching Perseus getting punched.

Annabeth cleared her throat, scanned the crowd, and called: "All in favor?"

All hands raised in the air, and Harry started laughing at Perseus' betrayed expression.

"You're breaking my heart, guys," Perseus said, hovering his hand above his heart in mock-hurt. "I thought you loved me."

Thalia punched his arm lightly. "It's our way of showing affection, Seaweed Brain."

"Don't call me that," he snarled back, though Harry didn't know why – since Annabeth had called him ' _Seaweed Brain_ ' all the time, and Perseus hadn't minded that. "But fine. I'll remember this, though."

"Counting on it," Annabeth said, grinning cheekily before kissing him quickly on his cheek.

And Harry immediately knew why Perseus didn't mind Annabeth calling him names.

The boy cleared his throat, flustered and blushing like mad, before turning to Sirius. However cool and collected the guy had seemed when facing an entire foreign army, he was just like any other teenager with a crush. And for the first time Harry felt a rush of platonic affection for Perseus – _Percy_. He was just like him. "Okay. I need your names before I can get you to cross the border."

Sirius raised an eyebrow, but said anyway: "Sirius Black."

Will started laughing, and even Nico looked like he wanted to smile. "Your name is _Sirius Black?_ You're either a villain of a fairytale or – ?"

"A wizard." Sirius grabbed his wand, and pointed it at the golden boy without further ado. "And a highly-wanted criminal, too. Care to find out why?"

Will quickly held up his hands, paling. "No – n-no, it's all right. Sirius Black. Cool name."

Sirius grinned, and tucked away his wand. "That's better."

After that the demigods stayed silent when Harry's friends told them their names – though Will did twitch a little when Ginny said ' _Ginevra Weasley'_ – not that Harry couldn't blame him.

When they were done, Annabeth took a deep breath and said: "Sirius Black, Fred, George, Ronald and Ginevra Weasley – you all have permission to enter Camp Half-Blood."

Harry, who had sort of expected something magical to happen, was disappointed when nothing happened. Everything looked like it had seconds ago, and his friends certainly thought the same.

"Well… that was disappointing." Ron smirked.

"Nothing happened, kid," Fred said, raising an eyebrow. "Like we said before, your stupid border won't –"

"Try it."

Fred scowled, but he tried anyway.

And he flew down safely, not bumping into any invisible barrier, not getting zapped by any invisible wire.

He flew down, landing right in front of Harry. "Right," he muttered. "Never mind."

The rest followed his league, landing in a perfect circle around Harry.

Sirius didn't wait more than two seconds before he turned to Perseus and lunged at his face with his right hand clenched into a fist.

He collided with Perseus' cheek with a loud _crack,_ a sound suspiciously like bones breaking.

When Sirius jumped up, cursing in pain and waving his broken hand around, Harry suddenly remember a very important fact – Perseus' skin was indestructible. Punching the guy probably felt like hitting a bolder – and Sirius hadn't exactly been holding himself back.

"Mother of _frick –"_ Sirius' looked ready to murder him. Perseus, however, was smiling broadly, not even rubbing his cheek. As if he'd just been hit with a feather rather than a very fast and hard fist. "Why didn't –"

"Long story." Annabeth said, trying not to laugh. "We probably should've told you that, though hitting Percy isn't hard, having him actually feel the pain is a lot more difficult."

"No kidding," Sirius said, jumping up and down. He grabbed his wand.

"Sirius!" Harry hissed, scared that his godfather would hurt Perseus in his anger, but he fell silent when Sirius pointed the wand at his own hand and whispered; _"Brackium Emendo,"_ and with a second loud and painful _crack_ Sirius' hand snapped back to its original state.

"That's better," Sirius grinned. "Though," he added, turning to Perseus – who winced slightly, "I'll get back at you another way, kid. Nobody abducts my godson."

Ron looked torn, but he said defiantly: "Me, too. Nobody abducts my best friend."

"Guys," Harry said, his voice slightly higher than normal, "you all don't have to… it's quite all right…"

"It isn't, though." Ginny looked at Harry, trying to see if any damage had been done to him in his captivity. Up close she was able to see the twigs in his hair, the scratched on his arms and face, and the bags under his eyes. Her frown increased.

He rolled his eyes. "When you're all done –"

"We aren't." Sirius said, but he sighed deeply as if trying to compose himself, and turned to Annabeth with a sarcastic smile on his face. "Fine. You said something about a video?"

She stood a little straighter, and put up her strategy face – at least, that was what Harry had named it. "Yes. If you'd all follow me."

 **X**

 **Okay. Sorry. Like, a thousand times over. This chapter** ** _SUCKED_** **but it had to be done. The next chap won't take long – as I'm already half-way through that one (THIS CHAPTER JUST DIDN'T WANT TO BE WRITTEN FOR SOME REASON) so I promise you all you won't have to wait another week for a disappointing chapter.**

 **Sigh.**

 **Anyway.**

Review replies for the anonymous:

 _TotalyNotNormal_ _: First of: O MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH like wow – your review made me bounce up and down for an hour straight, no exaggerations there. Really. That really means a lot, and I hoped you won't give up hope for this fic after reading the update! And pff. Helpful reviews can shove it. Yours was lovely – thank you._

 _DoseiEvans:_ _HOLY frick, really? Like, really really? I love you. Really, really means a lot (I feel like I'm just repeating myself but I do mean it). I'm very grateful that you appreciate Harry's part! I also dislike it when people, uh, forget to give him a big part. I consider him to be my favorite character, so I couldn't help but make him the protagonist._

 _Guest:_ _Your wish is granted, dear Sir/Ma'am._

 **Er, well. Bye. *waves awkwardly***


	14. Dreaming of Wolves and Witches

**Author's note:** It's been a long time, and I know I promised I'd be quicker. I won't promise to be quick again, seeing as I apparently can't keep my word. The last week's just been.. hard, filled with drama and love. (Not complaining there.) Sorry, I'll stop talking about my private life! Anyway, here's the new chap, entirely from PERCY'S POV. Someone pointed out that hadn't happened in a while, so, yeah. There.

* * *

 **Chapter 14**

 **Dreaming of Wolves and Witches**

So, to summarize; my three-week anniversary of being Annabeth's total exclusive boyfriend had kind of escalated into a chaotic mess. Not that I minded having a busy life, not at all! I just don't like getting punched for doing practically nothing wrong.

Well, okay, not _nothing..._

Fine. I could _grudgingly_ admit that abducting Harry Potter hadn't been the smartest, nor most considerate move I'd made in the past few years, still, it could've gone worse. His friends could've blown up camp. _I_ could've blown up camp. Dionysus could've noticed the rampage – thank god for his sleeping pills and his desire to sleep in on the mornings. I couldn't've had Iron skin. Though that last one was probably just me, knowing Thalia wouldn't have minded me actually getting hurt by the slap of the wizard Sirius Black. (Seriously. Not joking. That's a real name. _Yeah, I know_.)

"Perce," Thalia called out softly to get my attention. Annabeth was leading the demigods to the Big House, eager to show them the instruction video that even I hadn't seen yet. "You should probably get some rest."

I pulled a face. "No, I shouldn't. Why?"

Nico materialized beside her. He had a habit of doing that, actually, and the only reason Thalia didn't recoil at his sudden appearance was that she was used to it. "Because you look like death?" He offered.

"What Nico over here is trying to say delicately," Thalia continued, but she was smirking now, "is that you look remarkably like himself. And that isn't really healthy."

"Hey!"

She just nudged him.

"I'm not tired. I've only been up for like…. Two hours." I brushed my hair from my face, trying very hard not to yawn in front of them. Because, well, they were right. The curse of Achilles was really taking its toll on me, and not in the way that I certainly felt my whole soul being ripped from my body with on deliberately aimed punch – _nah_ , it was the more safe way, the way in which I felt immensely exhausted from merely swinging a sword around and screaming orders. I had no idea how on earth Achilles had managed to fight whole days, without succumbing into a pile of drooling Orpheus, but all I knew was that I wanted to take a nap. Desperately.

Yet actually admitting that to Thalia and Nico was… worse. I didn't want to appear weak in front of them.

"Yeah, sure," Thalia snorted, obviously not buying my tough act. "If you're not tired, then, why don't you come and spar with me? Throw a couple of punches? Or do you want to go swimming – I bet you haven't done that in ages. Or, _or_!" Her grin was splitting her face in two, I was sure it was ripping at its edges by now, "Or we can go to the archery, or – "

"You made your point, Pi-Pi-Pinecone Face," I said, a yawn stifling my mocking tone. "Not a word." I added when she started laughing.

"Just go to bed, Perce," Nico said, his eyes almost pleading. I didn't get why people thought him to be scary and cold – all I saw was concern and annoyance. (Which was an odd combination, I've got to admit.) "You've got at least half an hour before Harry and his buffoon-looking friends return."

"I'm _not_ tired!" I insisted.

"You're not fooling anyone," the son of Hades said, now rolling his eyes. "Nobody will think lesser of you if you take a damn nap –"

Thalia started giggling. "Yes, Perce, take your _dam_ nap –"

"Fine." I glared at Thalia, but my mouth wasn't really working with me, trying to quirk its way upward into a smile. " _Fine_. I'll take your advice then, Nico. I believe it was you who said the words, ' _with great power_ , -'"

"'- _comes great need to take a nap_ ', yes." If I didn't know Nico better, I could've sworn he was blushing. "It was the truth, wasn't it? So go on and sleep, Jackson. We'll call you when the wizards are ready to punch you again."

I groaned. "You're never going to let me live that down, will you?"

Thalia laughed out loud this time, "Nope!"

They both stared at me knowingly, as if expecting me to do a back-flip or something. It wasn't until Thalia raised an eyebrow – which, if you are a monster, means that you either have to run away quickly or be blasted with lightning – that I understood that they were waiting for me to actually go to bed. "Right!" I said, waving awkwardly at them, before strutting self-consciously to my cabin. Thalia and Nico were the only people left to watch me, the rest of the 'gang' had all followed Annabeth, eager to watch the wizards' reaction to the stupid video.

My cabin was just as it had always been: lonely, clean to a certain point (I mean, I hadn't had any clothing lying around, and my sheets were changed and everything) and smelling of something distinctly salty and wet. Not that _wet_ had a smell, but… ah, you know what I mean.

I jumped on the bed, my armor still on and Riptide stuffed in my pocket. I stared at the Minotaur horn on the wall, thinking about the first time I had arrived at camp… I certainly hadn't made a lesser entrance than Harry'd done, right…? I mean…. Defeating a monster… at the age of twelve… it wasn't… like… crashing into… trees...

 _Trees._

I must've drifted off unknowingly, because the next thing I knew was that I was falling down into darkness.

Okay, not technically darkness, more like dark fairytale-like woods, with trees that rose up into the sky with such vastness it would probably make the Empire State Building jealous. The ground was just a big black void of solidness, and I was quickly falling closer and closer into it.

I wasn't scared.

( _Okay, fine, I was, but don't tell my girlfriend. She'd find a way to tease me about it twenty years from now, believe me_.)

I wasn't _terrified_ , let's leave it at that, because I knew this was one of those prophetic dreams I used to have during the war. Demigods have them all the time. Sometimes useful. Sometimes terrifying. Most of the time, though, it was more confusing than the trouble was worth. Like, well, now.

Just when I thought I was going to crash into the ground – at this point, I was screaming like a wild banshee stuck in a rollercoaster – I stopped, hovering just an inch above the ground, my face millimeters away from a rock-hard stone. "What the –"

The invisible force that had cushioned my fall disappeared, and I fell on the ground with a loud _oomph_!

The ground felt hard, wet, and warm. It had rained here recently, which meant two things. One; I wasn't in Camp Half-Blood. Two, I could actually _feel_ the wetness, which wasn't a good sign.

" – arrived, My Lord. Everything is going –"

I froze.

Someone was pacing up and down nearby, his voice slithering across the wetted forest ground. The sound had definitely belonged to a man, though a nervous and shaky one, obviously talking to someone like his boss or master…

I quickly pulled myself upright, scanning my dark surroundings before diving into a bush so they wouldn't find out I'd dropped out of the sky and into their conversation. Though maybe I shouldn't have worried, seeing as they hadn't noticed my screams ripping through the evening air.

"Make no more excuses, Wormtail," a second voice interrupted, and this time I couldn't help but shiver violently. That voice hadn't sounded human. It was dripping with venom, and it had a distinctive ring to it, almost hissing, like a snake… My eyes widened. No way… _He can't possibly be_ – "For he is still well protected, is he not? It seems that, however foolishly enthusiastic, your efforts have failed to deliver me the results I so deeply desired… "

"My Lord, oh my honorable and generous Master…" I almost snorted out loud at the guy's scared tone – but thought better of it. "But… he is in America, is he not? Like you wanted? Far away from the Order's reach –"

"And _ours_!" The 'Lord' boomed back, his voice carrying through the woods. "Has it not crossed your empty-headed brain that we _need_ him without any protection? If we were to kill Harry Potter, I'd rather do it without any chance of failing again due to the stupidity of others like _you_."

I stopped breathing.

Wait.

This guy knew Harry?

This guy had _met_ Harry; the kind – yet a bit tempered – and intelligent kid, with his too large eyes, broken glasses and too big clothes? The kid that looked like it couldn't even hurt a fly if he wanted to?

This guy _knew_ him… and still wanted to kill him?

I get that a lot of monsters were out there to get me. Sure, it was weird that some of them had tried to do me in when I was twelve – because I hadn't done anything wrong back then, despite being born – but nowadays it was kind of to be expected. I had already sent a whole bunch of them back to Tartarus, and I had defeated their leader, Kronos, last summer. So it was no wonder that monsters had their special little plans of revenge for me.

But I didn't see Harry defeat tons of monsters like I had done. I knew he wasn't a demigod, so people couldn't have a grudge against him because of his heritage. Yet this guy, this scary-sounding snake-like guy, sounded like he wanted nothing more in the world than have the opportunity to kill Harry Potter.

And that made me sick to my stomach.

In my fury I had missed some of their argument, but I tried to focus and channel all my anger into something else – something to be dealt with later. Nobody was going to hurt Harry, not on my watch anyway, and I should probably listen to them in case they dropped any hints in how to destroy them before they could do any harm.

" – get them out, and I have Lucius on the job."

"That's the first relatively smart thing that has come out of your mouth this whole year, Wormtail. You have yet to impress me."

"Thank you, my Lord," the scared guy whispered, obviously oblivious to the fact that he'd just been insulted.

Something suddenly started ruffling – as if they had decided to take a walk, instead of just pace around.

And judging by the fact that the sound of their footsteps grew louder, they were walking right to me.

My eyes widened and I stilled, afraid to even breathe.

Two figures appeared in between the trees, their faces clouded by black hoods. They were obviously part of some cult or something – nobody I knew would ever wear that kind of clothing without having lost a bet or three. The taller of the two was walking confidentially, almost floating across the forest ground without making a sound. The shorter, plumper one was a lot less graceful, stumbling over broken branches and getting tangled up in bushes alike. They were both holding a wooden stick, holding it up in the air with the tip alighted…

If my eyes could've widened more, they would have.

They had _wands._

So they were wizards.

Probably the enemies Harry's friends had suspected me and the other demigods to be. What had that serious – no, _Sirius_ – Black said? Something along the lines of Voldetord? No – _Voldemort_. That was it. So maybe the third line, ' _to stop the dark snake's rise to power once more_ ', hadn't meant something similar to what Annabeth had thought. Maybe it didn't have anything to do with my world, the mythical Greek one, but with the magical English one…

Suddenly a loud and disturbing hissing yanked me from my thoughts.

Something beside me in the bushes – and this time, there was no doubt that this sound had belonged to an _actual_ snake – was hissing at someone, as if trying to talk. The sound sent shivers from my spine to my whole body, and I had to fight the urge to either grab my sword or take a run for it. I'd fought Medusa, sure, and her hair had been made up by snakes. But they hadn't tried to _talk_ before, which was the scariest effing stuff I'd ever heard.

 ** _"_** Ah," The taller one said, stiffening. His wand was still raised, but it looked different somehow, as if he was preparing to strike. "Nagini just informed me that we have company."

 _Na-who now?_

"O-oh." The shorter of the two jumped, quickly turning around as if expecting someone to sneak up behind them. "Who? Where?"

The taller one's wand lowered, lowered… right until it stilled, its tip aimed right between my eyes. "Right _there_."

My heart literally stopped beating, but before I could open my mouth, the world shifted.

 _Thank the gods._

Not that I'd been scared – ugh, no of course not, what are you talking about? I was shaking with anticipation, not _fright,_ absolutely not – but that particular dream hadn't been all that pleasant.

The world was twisting around me, images twirling and shifting before my eyes. I quickly closed them, holding my breath until I finally felt my feet touch solid ground.

I opened my eyes again.

This time my dream had brought me to a more familiar ground – Camp Half-Blood. I was near the edge of camp now, almost by the shore, and I could hear the slow rumbling of the waves colliding on the bank. I almost didn't see anything amiss, until a figure doomed up from the trees, his wand raised high and his face grim.

This was obviously a friend of Harry's. Firstly, the wand sort of gave it away. Secondly, he wasn't wearing any ridiculous clothes – okay, fine, he actually was, but he at least didn't have a massive black cloak whooshing around his ankles. Thirdly and most importantly, he was talking agitatedly to a teenager.

His face was covered in scars, some recent, some from fights long passed. He couldn't be older then 35, though I suspected the white streaks in his hair made him look older than he actually was.

The man was walking up and down, but the girl he was talking to seemed to be frozen in shock. Her hair was curly like Rachel's, though hers was brown, but she had to be at least a few inches shorter in height. Her mouth was contorted into an expression of worry and confusion, and her eyebrows were knitted together. "- magical, Professor –" she was saying, her voice barely louder than a whisper at this distance.

Slowly I walked closer, making sure I didn't make any sound.

"Of _course_ it's magical, Hermione!" The man was talking with his hands, his face full of emotion. Worry? Anger? Frustration? "That doesn't explain why my un-locking spells don't work!"

"That isn't even a proper word, Professor –"

"It's _Remus_!" The man interrupted, and the tip of his wand suddenly erupted in flames. The girl jumped, almost stumbling on her feet trying to avoid the sudden fire. "Oh, sorry." The fire disappeared. "What I meant to say," he continued a lot softer and with more patience, "is that there has got to be another reason as to _why_ –"

The man with the wolf name, Remus, heard it at the same time I did, and his voice stilled.

The girl, however, hadn't noticed, and continued as if nothing had happened. "You've got a strong point, Professor Lu– I mean, _Remus_ , but what can it be, if not magical?"

"Hermione…." Remus whispered, slowly edging closer to the girl. Something was rustling behind her, edging closer and closer.

She just went on, apparently eager now that he wasn't shouting at her anymore. "It can't very well be made by muggles, right? And –"

" _Hermione!_ " Remus hissed this time, his wand pointing at something behind her. " _Run!_ "

Her mouth opened, first to question, until it suddenly dawned on her that this was serious.

She turned, aiming her wand before starting to scream.

"Hermione!" The man yelled, leaping forward, and bellowed; " _Reducto_!"

A loud crack filled the air, and I started sprinting towards them. Smoke was enveloping them now, surrounding the people and blocking them from my sight. I could, however, hear the girl's muffled screams and the man's desperate cries to help her. " _Relashio!_ " another shot of light and a bang, but seeing as Remus cursed loudly, it hadn't worked. "Let her go, you monster, let her go!"

A low chuckle slammed me into a halt, and my eyes widened.

Wait a second.

I knew that chuckle.

 _You have got to be kidding me._

The smoke around them had finally evaporated, and my heart stilled at the scene before me.

Hermione, the bushy-haired girl, was stomping and biting and kicking, trying to fight her way out of the hands of the empousa holding her close. It clearly wasn't working, for the empousa was smiling wickedly in triumph. The spells of Remus were bouncing of skin as if made of nothing more than sparks of light. "Foolish mortal," she giggled, her sharp teeth clicking together with a sickening sound. "My mother is Hecate, goddess of magic – and you really think your feeble attempts of hexing me will work?"

"Tammi!" I screamed, my legs suddenly jolting into action. "Let the girl go!"

Tammi's eyes widened, and her smile disappeared. " _You!_ " she snarled, baring her yellowed teeth at me, not even trying to charm her looks now, "Percy Jackson! If I didn't have my orders, you'd be on your way to the Underworld right now –"

"Why, isn't _that_ funny," I said, uncapping Anaklusmos while grinning at her. "I, unlike you, don't have such orders. So I, unlike you, can send you to lovely old Tartarus the old-fashioned way…"

She snarled. "You wish, Jackson. You won't have your chance."

"Oh, yeah?" I stilled, standing right in front of her now. Hermione was staring at me with big eyes, obviously horribly confused and scared, but she kept her mouth shut, something for which I was infinitely grateful. "Why don't you drop that girl and fight _me_ to find out, huh?"

Tammi's eyes switched between the witch fidgeting in her arms and the glowing blade in my hand. Probably remembering how it had felt when I had killed her with it, she found my gaze again. Her eyes were almost glowing. "I know what you're trying to do, _boy_ , and it won't work."

"Won't it?" I stepped closer, the front of my feet almost touching the border. One more step and I would be in her reach – and she knew it. "Are you sure about that?"

She opened her mouth, licked her lips…. And closed it again. She obviously wanted her revenge at me desperately, yet something was holding her back from acting rashly. Maybe it was indeed orders from someone – and boy, was that a comforting thought – or she just really wanted to kidnap that girl.

Either way; all I knew was that I had to stop her from doing what she wanted to do.

"C'mon, Tammi," I whispered, my left foot darting forward slowly. Her breath stopped, and her eyes narrowed slightly. " _One_ fight. What's the worst that could happen?"

And before she could open her mouth, before she could even try to run away with Hermione safely tucked between her claws, I leaped forward with a cry and _lunged_.

 **xx**

 **Ooh, I actually quite enjoyed writing that chapter for a change! I, at least, LOVE cliffhangers… I'm sorry. It's one of my guilty pleasures.**

 **Anyway: to find out what happens, well… I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the next installment of 'With Wands and Swords'! (Credit for this line; Nyx!) Oh, and before I forget; a special THANK YOU to StellaTheReviewer for being the beta of this chapter 3**

 **To answer those who don't want to have an account (pity) :**

KatrinaPlayz _: Did you just quote Blackjack?_

DoseiEvans _: Don't apologize for the length of your review, that simply is unnecessary. I quite happen to like them. And yay, glad you don't hate me for it! And hey, if it indeed gets people to reread my story, maybe I should update less often? ;) But, anyway, I'm honored to be your third author to review. Thank you._

Frida _: Hey, it's okay. No harm done in the belated review. And aww, you saying that warms my heart! And I LOVE that you are theorizing my story, it's amazing to imagine someone actually thinking about it whilst… um, well, not reading it at the same time. So, yeah, thank you so much for saying it._

 **I won't promise anything, but I HAVE to update this week (at least, before Sunday. It's my birthday that day, and I'll be going to London for a week the same day too! So that means, no laptop, no writing, no updating this story!** **Sorry.)**

 ***waves* Bye! Review! (Pretty please?)**


	15. We Are Demanded a Quest

**A/N:** I wanted to start off by saying an awkward 'hi, I'm back from hiatus, how've y'all been?' but I've just got to say: **_TWO HUNDRED REVIEWS? I LOVE YOU?_** Special thanks to my dear friend StellaTheReviewer to have the honor of being the 200th!

* * *

 **Chapter 15**

 **We Are Demanded a Quest**

 _'Realizing you're a demigod is much like hitting puberty. It's combined with a lot of build-in frustration, irritation, disbelief and wanting to hit someone in the gut all the time – and believe me, kid, I've been there, too.'_

Harry and his friends were watching the special video Annabeth had told them to watch, and it wasn't at all what he'd expected. First off, it seemed to be made in the middle ages judging by its quality – fine, maybe not the middle ages, but it was certainly made before he was born – and the boy talking in the video seemed rather bored than enthusiastic, as if they had been told to make the video as a form of punishment rather than a way to help future campers.

Though, Harry wondered amusedly, it did make his godfather smirk now and then, and that was in any case better than Sirius not believing it at all.

 _'I am Mark Finch, son of Hermes. Yes, it was a bit of a surprise when I found out too – because wasn't Hermes that little blue guy with winged shoes from that film Hercules?'_

Ron mouthed the name 'Hercules?' to Harry, who just rolled his eyes, and mouthed back; 'Long story.'

 _'But, I discovered, it's very much true. Gods like Hermes, Apollo and Ares, goddesses like Athena, Demeter and Hestia – they're alive. They make children. Me. Us.' The guy pointed lamely to the camera, shuffling his blonde hair with his other hand. He had a long sword strapped to his back and a dagger to his waist, and his left hand was wrapped in bandages as if he'd just broken it. 'The gods, immortal beings from the ancient times, all live up in Olympus. Yes, that's a real place, and_ no, _it isn't in Greece. Currently it's in New York, above the Empire State Building, because it moves with the so-called 'heart of the west', the center of the current civilization.'_

"He's a cheery one, isn't he?" Whispered Fred to Ginny, who nudged him.

"Shut up, will you," she said irritably, "I'm trying to listen."

 _'I know it sounds a bit confusing right now, but you'll get there in the end. The main point is that you're here for a reason. Either your mortal parent dropped you off to be done with a lot of trouble – nothing personal, I suppose – or you stumbled into camp by accident –'_

Fred, George, Ginny and Sirius turned around at the same time, and Harry grinned at them sheepishly.

 _'- or you ran into one of our helping hands, or hoofs, whatever, because you were followed by the monsters by your strong scent. The stronger your parent is – like per example, a child of Apollo has a stronger scent than a child of Iris – the more monsters you attract. However you came here, for whatever reason, the thing is… you're safe. No monsters can cross our borders, no mortals can pass without permission: only half-bloods like you and me can.'_

 _'And me!'_

The rest of the group jumped up, startled. The blonde kid – the son of Hermes, apparently – had sounded so bored and monotone that they'd almost dozed off, but the second voice had sounded the opposite: chirpy, happy, and full of energy, making them jerk awake instantly.

 _A guy walked into the screen. He had big innocent eyes, a huge smile on his face, and his arms were wide as if he wanted to hug them through the screen. He wore a red baseball bat the wrong way, and his orange shirt was tucked loosely in his jeans. 'Hullo, newbie! Welcome to camp Half-Blood! I know my fellow camper over here is a bit grumpy, but it is after all just seven am, and he lost a bet against Ares' daughter last night -'_

 _'Yeah,' the other camper said, rolling his eyes, 'Trust me, kid, never bet against a daughter of the war god. You'll end up getting crushed, that's what.' He waved his injured hand._

Ginny started laughing. "Merlin, I like her already."

Harry wasn't surprised in the slightest.

 _'Anyway, what I was saying – not only half-bloods of the gods can enter camp. I, for example, can too. I am a satyr, which means I am a goat from the waist down –'_

Sirius sputtered in surprise, "Did he just say –"

 _And without further ado, the boy yanked down his own jeans, revealing his either very hairy, or very goat-like, legs, including black shining hoofs instead of feet. He was jumping up and down cheerfully, showing off his special condition with glee. 'See? Satyr. We are the protectors of the demigods at camp, we seek out hidden demigods – who don't even know they are godly – and bring them safely here, so they aren't maimed by the monster. We go on quests alongside the demigods – sometimes – and we help with their lessons at camp!'_

 _The blonde demigod rolled his eyes, and said; 'Yes. Joyful.'_

 _The satyr nudged him. 'We also have a centaur at camp, and that's Chiron. Yes, the real Chiron! He's thousands of years old, he taught even Achilles himself, and he's alive today to teach_ you _, too! You'll be the next hero, believe me!'_

Harry blinked a couple times too many.

Wait a second.

Chiron?

As in, the centaur that decided his fate the other night?

That guy… no, that centaur… was thousands of years old? Chiron'd been the teacher of _Achilles?_

The headache that had finally lessened half an hour ago started to come up again. Harry fought the urge to slam his head through a window.

 _'But the one who is trying to rule us all –'_

 _The satyr interrupted the other boy quickly by saying; 'The person who leads us –'_

 _'- Is Dionysus.' They said together, both daunting expressions on their faces._

Sirius grumbled. "Dionysus; that name rings a bell. Isn't that the wine dude?"

Annabeth, who was standing in the door opening, started to cough. Probably from trying to withhold her laughter. "Yes, he is. Don't call him that, though, if you want to live… he'll turn you into a plant if you do."

"He'll _what?"_ Sirius said, turning around so quickly he nearly fell of his chair, but Annabeth merely pointed at the screen with a smirk on her face.

 _A middle-aged guy strutted onto the screen, his expression even more bored than the camper's. His cheeks were rosy, his eyes glossy, his nose red – overall, he looked like he'd just drunk a bit too much. His hair was curled and black, so black it almost looked purple. 'That's me. Hi.' He waved lamely at the camera._

 _The Satyr looked nervous just looking at him. 'This is Dionysus, god of Wine, and leader of camp Half-Blood, ordered by Zeus –'_

 _'Punished, to be more exact,' Dionysus said, rolling his eyes._

Harry leaned forward, trying to decipher what exactly made this guy a god. Sure, he'd accepted that they existed, but he hadn't expected gods to look like, well, _him._ Dionysus looked like the drunk uncle at parties, the one who shouted abuse whenever he could, making inappropriate comments to women while slapping them on their behinds.

And judging by the looks the blonde camper was giving him, Harry's opinion of the 'god' wasn't an uncommon one.

 _'- yes,' the satyr continued, his voice even smaller. 'Punished to watch over us campers for the next fifty years.'_

 _Dionysus rolled his eyes, and turned to look at the camera. His eyes were watery, yes, but there was a purple light behind them that shone brightly, noticeable even in the bad quality. 'Welcome to camp, I guess, you little brat –'_

 _The blond camper face-palmed himself._

 _'- the place you'll be staying until one of the gods sees it fit for you to die. I'm not here to be your savior. I'm just here to make sure you don't run away and make our life more troubling than it's worth.'_

 _'Mr. D,' The kid said, trying to keep his voice even, 'you're supposed to make the kids feel more at home, not make them scared.'_

 _'I know how to handle children, Pitch.'_

 _'It's Finch, actually.'_

Annabeth started laughing behind them, as if just told an inside joke.

 _'Whatever.' Dionysus – Mr. D? – waved his hands carelessly. 'Anyhow, I suppose I should prove that we're telling the truth, no?'_

"That wouldn't make a difference," Fred said, sighing. "This could be one big fluke –"

"Really?" Annabeth said, not laughing anymore. "Do you honestly think we'd go through so much trouble for a prank?"

" _Yes!_ " Fred and George said together.

"Listen," she said, clearly annoyed, "this video is made almost twenty years ago. How on earth do you explain that? Secondly, why would we _want_ you guys to believe in the gods, other than us speaking the truth?"

"Because, girl," Sirius said, turning around with a murderous expression on his face, "that's the only reason why I haven't jinxed you for abducting my godson. _My curiosity_. It's as good as any excuse to make us forget you'd harmed Harry."

Harry sighed, rubbing in his eyes tiredly. "Sirius, you know this theory is too far-fetched and weird not to be true. Nobody would've thought of _this_ as a reason to hold be here, right? Even _you_ have never made up stories about the gods to get out of something."

Sirius barked with laughter, and said, "True enough! You've got a point. Still…"

"You promised you'd let it go when you hit Perseus, Sirius," Harry reminded him.

His godfather groaned, but nodded grudgingly all the same.

"So, it's really true then?" Ginny said, turning away from the screen as well. Nobody was really paying attention anymore. "The Greek deities, they're real?"

"Yup." Annabeth smirked unconsciously. "My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom and warfare, so I can't perform some sort of special trick to make you believe me, but I have a hunch that practical proof isn't necessary."

"No, thank you," Ron said, waving his hand. His face was ashen-white and stubborn. "My head-ache is bad enough as it is."

"So you believe them, then?" Harry said, hopeful.

"Kind of." Ron crossed his eye, and smirked. "I didn't believe you last year with the tournament, and I'm never going to make that mistake again."

Harry suddenly felt a rush of affection for his best friend, and he couldn't help but smile broadly. It felt like it would break his face in two, and he didn't mind in the slightest. "Thanks, mate."

"'t's nothing," Ron said, but he knew it wasn't.

Fred and George still didn't seem convinced, though, and Fred had just opened his mouth to retort something when the door bursted open with a loud _clang._

Annabeth turned around quickly, her hand on her dagger.

Thalia stood in the opening, clutching her thighs and gasping for breath. Her face was blotted with red dots from running, and her eyes were widened in fear.

Harry immediately knew something was wrong.

And the blonde camper, Annabeth; she knew it too. Probably because Thalia wasn't one to get scared easily, and wasn't one to burst in on them like this, either, if it weren't for an emergency.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked, her voice small, as if afraid of the answer.

"Annabeth," she breathed, scanning the room frantically before settling her gaze on her friend, "it's Percy."

 _x-x-x_

Harry hadn't even had the time to let that statement sink in before Annabeth had run out of the door without missing a beat, her hair twirling behind her.

"Annabeth! Wait up!" Thalia yelled, before cursing loudly and following in pursuit.

Harry grabbed his wand and jolted out of his seat.

"Wait," Ginny said, grabbing Harry's sleeve. "Is it wise to follow them? I mean, it sounds as if that Percy kid is in trouble –"

"Yes?" Harry asked, pulling himself from her grasp. "Isn't it logical, then, that I want to follow them and help out?"

"No, it isn't." Ginny said stubbornly. Her brown eyes were literally shining in the dark, much like the eyes of a cat, glaring at him with a combination of confusion and fear. "Listen, you were abducted, and as much of a good story _this_ _thing_ is, it still doesn't explain why –"

"Now isn't the time!" Harry snapped. He had it up to _here_ with their stubborn believes, with their convictions that it couldn't be true. He was tired of explaining the story he didn't understand himself over and over again. He was just so _tired_ of fighting. "Guys, you're _wizards_ for crying out loud! I don't see why accepting this should be so hard! Secondly, for your question why my 'abduction' isn't bothering me: they wondered how the ruddy hell –"

"Language, Harry," George said jokingly.

Harry ignored him pointedly. "- I was able to cross the border without their permission! It was a good question, because I wasn't able to explain it at the time, either. I'm a half-blood wizard. That's why. We didn't figure that out until much later: like, maybe two minutes before you guys made it here.

"So _excuse_ me, Ginny, if I'm off to help these kids. They can't help being overprotective of their camp if monsters try to evade it all the time! I'm done trying to explain myself continually to you guys, and I hope you trust me -"

"We do," Ron said softly.

Harry's voice was almost at shouting-point. "Well, in that case, why do you bother fighting them constantly, then?"

Sirius was standing up, too. Rather than bowing his head down in shame like the Weasleys were doing, Sirius had risen his chin and his arms were crossed. "Because we were _worried_ about you, you daft idiot! We were up all night searching for you, sick to the stomach thinking of all the people who wanted to abduct you… hurt you… take you away for Voldemort…"

Ron flinched, but he met Harry's eyes defiantly all the same. "He's right, mate. You can't imagine what it felt like, not having you come back last night."

Harry sank bank down, his cheeks flushing with shame. "Look, I'm sorry I had you guys worried, and I get that it might've…" He took a deep breath. "All right, maybe I don't get it. All I know right now, however, is that these kids, these half-bloods, they _didn't_ know either. They couldn't have predicted what would happen if they kept me here – and I'm guessing they're feeling very sorry now, having encountered _your_ army _."_ He gestured to the twins, who smiled at him as a response.

It was silent for a few minutes, in which Harry stared at Sirius and Sirius stared back, both stubborn and kind of apologetic, until Ginny coughed loudly.

"I think Harry's right," she said.

Harry's neck snapped with the speed he'd turned it in her direction. "You do?"

She smirked at him, and her eyes shone with a different light entirely. It made Harry's skin feel warm for an entire different reason than anger. "Yes. I'm still going to pester them, though, don't forget it. But let's just go and help out that look-a-like of yours."

Harry jumped up, smiling. "Are you guys coming?" He asked, turning to his friends.

The twins, Ron, and Ginny jumped up, too.

He appreciated their support immensely, but it wasn't their reaction Harry was dreading; it was his godfather's. _Sirius_ had been the one shouting and cursing (and punching) his way through camp, and _he_ was the only adult here. He was still their guardian, and as reluctant as Harry was to admit it, his godfather would have the final say in this. Sirius had promised to keep all of them away from harm after all, and he wasn't one to break that kind of promises.

Sirius finally ran his wand-free hand through his hair, and sighed. "Fine. _Fine_. I'm still mad, though, don't forget that."

"Honestly, I hadn't expected anything less."

His godfather smirked.

 _x-x-x_

When their group had finally arrived back at the main cabins, the commotion seemed to have reached its peak.

A whole crowd of teenagers was standing outside a low, dark cabin, embedded with seashells. The door of the cabin was tight shut, but light was shining behind it.

"What's going on?" Harry said quickly, trying to push himself through the crowd.

Oddly enough, people parted when they caught the sight of his wand. Probably teens who'd been there when he'd defeated the smoke army. Harry didn't care, but took advantage of their fear, stepping through the crowd more easily now, holding his wand in front of him like a sword.

"Oh, there you are," said a voice lazily, and Harry couldn't help but smile a bit. Nico was standing in front of the door, his arms crossed, as if he'd expected Harry there ages ago. "Took you long enough."

"Had to recruit my friends." Harry said as an answer, gesturing at the Weasleys and his godfather standing behind him.

Nico's gaze traveled from his to his friends, and he smirked. "Ah. Right. Your little army."

"Watch it," Ginny warned, raising her wand.

"I didn't even say anything, Gina." Nico said quickly, but he flinched slightly looking at her pointed wand all the same.

"It's Ginevra," she corrected automatically, before groaning and adding; "Wait – no, I meant Ginny. Call me Ginny."

"Right." Nico sighed, turning back to the door. He looked as if he was contemplating whether it was worth it to slam himself through the wood to get inside.

Something fell down with a loud bang inside the wooden building, and the cabin seemed to shake on its foundations.

"Nico," Harry began, "what's happening? What happened with Perseus?"

The other boy turned to him, looking as if he wanted to laugh. "Did you just call him Perseus?" When Harry didn't answer – he'd just raised an eyebrow – Nico sighed again. "Percy had a… vivid dream. We demigods, we… we get prophetic dreams. It can either be a symbol for something that's going to happen, or a vision of something that is happening _right now_ somewhere else. If it's the latter, we're able to be seen or sensed by others."

"How?" Fred asked, joining the two. He didn't seem to notice the crowd behind them gaping at the wizards. Maybe he didn't care. "What do you mean, 'sensed by others'?"

Another bang, and this time it was followed by a loud curse and a muffled _'Percy -'_

Nico ran a hand through his hair, and waved his other hand around frantically. He seemed to do that a lot when he got agitated. "Okay. An example, then. Imagine two Titans fighting about something, plotting something evil at the other side of the world. A demigod here at camp takes a nap, and _boom,_ they're suddenly in the bushes near the Titans' location listening to their every word."

Harry had to admit it actually sounded pretty amazing – listening in to your enemies plans without having to leave your bed – until he remembered that happened to him, too. Sure, it was different, since his visions were always related to Voldemort, but still. It sounded too familiar to be comfortable.

Nico continued, not noticing Harry running his hand across his scar absently. "Sounds like a pretty good deal, I know. But there's a catch. The Titans are able to hear, see, and hurt you, unless you're either pulled into another vision or are woken up."

Harry coughed, trying to sound neutral. "So something like that happened to Perseus – I mean, Percy?"

The other boy shifted nervously on his feet. "Percy… it's different with him. He gets… When he gets temperamental, he just…" But apparently Nico couldn't explain what Percy was, and he muttered something under his breath before saying: "Listen, his father is Poseidon, one of the Big Three, the most powerful gods out there. Percy's pretty powerful too, especially since he took a swim in the river Styx and achieved invincibility. So when _he_ gets a bad dream…" Something in the house fell down with a loud clang. "Well, let's just say it creates an audience." He gestured to the crowd behind them. "Case and point."

"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Harry asked, straining his ears to make out the muffled talk that was going on in the cabin.

"'m afraid not," Nico said, sounding defeated. "We've just got to wait until Annabeth and Thalia get him to wake up tell us what happened."

Harry, though, didn't want to give up just yet. "Maybe I can help him in a way you guys can't?" He waved his wand around, and saw a twelve-year-old camper jump away in the corner of his eye. "I've got just the spell to wake people up."

Ron, behind him, groaned. "He does. I'm the victim of that spell regularly, I can vouch for it."

"You know it's nothing personal, Ron," Harry said back, smirking. "If I wouldn't wake you up for breakfast on Sunday, you'll eat _me_ to satisfy that monster of a stomach of yours."

Ginny started laughing. "He's right, though, Ron –"

"Shut up, both of you!"

Nico cleared his throat, and Harry looked back at him. "You can try. Only you, though, I don't want to… to crowd his cabin too much. Tell Annabeth I said it was okay."

Harry breathed, feeling something lift off his chest. (Though he wasn't even sure why he'd felt worried about Perseus in the first place. It was his abductor, after all.) "Thank you, Nico."

The other boy waved his hand, as if to say, _go for it._

Harry didn't turn around to look at his friends before he ran to the door and tried to yank it open. The door felt heavier than he'd anticipated, and the trident shining above the number '3' was wobbling with the effort he was giving to open it. When after a few seconds nothing happened, he pointed his wand at the lock and shouted, " _alohomora!"_

He ignored the gasps and whispers when the door opened, and stepped inside.

Harry didn't know what he'd expected.

Maybe some commotion. Maybe a sleepless Perseus thrashing in his bed, throwing a fit.

The last thing he'd expected, however, was a literal whirlwind twirling around the room, with sheets of empty beds and cushions and other furniture flying around. Harry cursed and ducked when a stool almost hit him in the head, and he rolled out of the way of a book.

Perseus was in the middle of the storm, his eyes closed but his mouth open as if he was screaming a battle cry. His hands were balled at his side and his arms were flexing now and then; and the both girls were each holding one of his arms down as if that would calm him down.

Annabeth was shouting something at Perseus, but whatever she was saying, it wasn't working.

 _Perseus is powerful_ , Nico had said.

That had been quite the understatement.

"Hey!" Harry yelled, trying to get their attention. "Thalia!"

The daughter of Zeus looked up through her hair, first mad, and then relieved. "Harry. I hope you've got some magic trick up your sleeve to wake him up."

"I do!" He shouted back, and scrambled back upright. "Why is he like this?"

"I – don't – know!" Annabeth said, panting. She was strong, Harry could see that, but she was having much difficulty keeping Perseus down. "He's fighting, for real, in his dream, and this hasn't happened since…"

Harry looked around, trying to see how on earth he was going to get through that storm. Where he was standing was dangerous enough as it was, but he got a feeling that dodging furniture would get more difficult the closer he'd get to Perseus.

Figuring the least he could do was try anyway, Harry raised his wand, pointed it at Perseus' body and shouted loudly; " _Rennervate_!"

The effect was immediate.

The wind stopped, the sheets and stools and cushions falling down on the floor. The girls collapsed on the bed from exhaustion, and for a second or two the only sound they could hear was their ragged breathing.

Then Perseus propped himself up on one elbow, looking around dazedly before settling his gaze down at Harry. "Harry." He said, blinking. "I think I just met your friends."

This was the last thing he'd expected; and he couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

"I did." Perseus rubbed his hands across his face tiredly. His hands were shaking, but Harry didn't comment. "There was this bushy-haired girl, Hermione, and the older guy, Remus."

Harry's breath seemed to have stopped, and his gaze locked with Annabeth's. _He's fighting, for real,_ she's said. What had involved danger like that and his friends?

"Well, Remus could cross the border but Hermione couldn't. It would've been fine if Tammi hadn't shown up –"

Annabeth gasped, straightening up immediately. "Tammi? We should –"

"No need." He grinned sheepishly at her. "I defeated her already, actually. It's fine. She was ordered by something, someone, to abduct Hermione or something because she certainly gave it a good try, but Tammi isn't one to deny a challenge. Especially not one with me."

"Thank the gods," Annabeth breathed, sinking down next to him on the bed, and she took Perseus' hand. For a fleeting second, Harry felt light-headed with relieve and the urge to do the same.

"Thank you, Perseus," Harry whispered softly. He had no idea who or what Tammi was, but he did get what Tammi had wanted to do. And what Perseus had done to stop it.

Perseus' eyes found Harry's again. "No problem," he said, just as soft. "Least I could do for abducting you."

"I do hope you let them into camp? Harry's friends, I mean?" Thalia said, brushing her hair from her face. She was standing up, breathing in deep and slowly, as if trying to brush off the effort it had taken her to hold Perseus down.

"Remus was already in camp," Perseus reminded her. "Maybe he's a half-blood wizard like Harry, too. As for the girl, well, I was woken up by you guys before I could give her permission of any kind to let her cross the border."

"Perce," Annabeth just said, closing her eyes and rubbing across her forehead. "Tammi… she was _ordered_ to abduct a friend of Harry's."

"I know." He said, just as serious.

Harry, however, _didn't_ know. "What does that mean?" He asked, stepping forward hesitatingly.

Annabeth and Perseus looked each other in the eye for a couple of seconds before his look-a-like turned to him and said, "It means two things. One, there is something, or rather _someone_ , out there keen to hurt you and your friends. Two, well…" He took a deep breath. "It basically means our quest has started."

 **X**

 **Special thanks to my second and new BETA!**

 **Any mistakes found, however, are certainly mine. (I'm very stubborn that way.)**

 **Answers to anonymous reviewers:**

 _Wassup: __don't worry sweetheart, I won't abandon this._

 _Adesperatereader: __Here you go! Sorry it took so ridiculously long, life got crazy!_

 _Lex: __Thanks! And yes, he was._


	16. Foes bear Arms

**Author's note:** The first half of this chapter was corrected by my wonderful first beta, _StellaTheReviewer_ , the other half wasn't betaed at all. So my apologies for any mistakes I might've made in my enthusiasm when I wrote this chapter. Cheers.

* * *

 **Chapter 16**

 **Foes Bear Arms**

So their quest had officially begun.

They had no choice but to take arms and pursue whoever had ordered to abduct Hermione.

And for some unknown reason, Harry felt extremely calm about it.

Probably because he would've tried to find Hermione's almost-abductors anyway, prophecy or not.

The only thing that made him feel wary about the whole ordeal was the half-gods, arguing like crazy around the bonfire, trying to decide who was supposed to come along.

Perseus and his girlfriend were shouting at each other – something along the lines of him not wanting her to come due to her safety, and her wanting to come along because she had to (and did she just call him a seaweed brain?). Chiron was eyeing them warily, his arms crossed and his frown prominent even from this distance. Sirius was copying his stature – minus the horse body - his eyes following Perseus' agitated movements with precision. Remus was sitting on the ground next to him, his wand still clenched inside his fist. Hermione was sitting, too, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms around it. Ron had put his arm around _her,_ whispering things in Hermione's ear. Maybe trying to convince her that it was all real. Maybe calming her down. Whatever he was saying, she stayed still, her eyes wide as she continued to look from Perseus to Harry to Perseus again. Ginny was shouting at Fred that she wanted to come along, too – he'd accidentally slipped that she was too young to come with them on a quest this dangerous. George was standing by his brother's side, looking between his siblings warily, not wanting to interfere.

And Harry just stood there, his hands in his hair and his expression emotionless. (At least, he hoped it was.)

But when the shouting and glaring continued – the rest of the campers were just staring at them all, whispering to each other and pointing to Harry's friends and himself – Harry figured he'd had enough.

"Oy!" He yelled, keeping his voice steady. "We're not getting anywhere if you all keep shouting like that!"

Ginny turned her head to him with a snap. "Can I at least finish my sentence?"

Harry felt himself grin, and waved his hand at her. "Be my guest."

"Thanks." She turned to Fred again, who flinched away when she pointed her index-finger at him. "Don't you _ever_ dare to accuse of me being the damsel in distress again. Just because I don't have a pe-"

"Ginny!" Harry said in a low voice, but she ignored it.

"-nis, doesn't mean I can't fight."

"Two things," Fred said, admiringly calm. "One, I know you can fight. I've been a victim of your hexes too many times _not_ to know that."

Ginny grinned, and Harry did, too, when he saw some of the other campers looking at each other worryingly.

"Two," Fred added, quirking a brow, "who said anything about fighting?"

"I did." Perseus spoke up, purposely not looking at his girlfriend (who was still fuming and muttering under her breath). "I've been on too many quests _not_ to know it contains a whole lot of fighting, danger and near-death experiences. I could sugarcoat it for all of you, saying it will be easy, but that wouldn't be fair."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, and took a deep breath. Honestly, he hadn't expected for a 'quest' to be easy, certainly not one possibly involving Voldemort. Still, it was nice to hear Perseus say it so honestly – not many people Harry knew were honest that way. At least in his experience, adults tried to make the fighting sound heroic and good and brave: Perseus just sounded tired.

"Why does Harry have to go?" Hermione said, her voice soft but clear. "I mean, I get that we want to capture whoever ordered to have me abducted, but… why is it that only Perseus and Harry _have_ to go?"

So Ron had only been calming her down, after all. Oddly, it wasn't a surprise. "There was a prophecy," Harry said, casting his eyes down for a few seconds before looking up to his best friends. "I know you don't believe in Trelawney, Hermione, but this one… it's real."

"Is it because they're the children of the Greek gods?"

Harry blinked.

Wait.

What?

He'd expected to have to explain it all over again – this time with even more trouble, seeing as Hermione was the most rational person he knew, and would need a lot of substantial evidence before she'd even consider believing him – but her saying the truth so bluntly was the last thing he'd thought she would do. He half expected her to confess about being a god's child now, too, before she started to laugh at his baffled face.

"Oh, god, Harry," she giggled, freeing herself from Ron's grip. "I'm sorry I said it like that, but it's quite obvious when you think about it, isn't it?"

Perseus cleared his throat. "Is it?"

She turned to him. "Yes. The… vampire, I guess, who tried to take me away… she said that her mother was the goddess of magic, Hecate. Every child has had to read the Iliad at least once…" She turned to look at Harry, who just shrugged. "Never mind," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Let me rephrase that. Some _literate_ people, including me, read the Iliad –"

"I'm sorry," Ron interrupted, standing up as well. "But what in the name of merlin's foggy underpants is the Iliad?"

"It's a book written by Homer," Remus chipped in, grinning when Sirius jumped up in shock at his voice. "about Greek mythology."

Hermione gestured in his direction. "Prof-, uh, _Remus,_ is right. The book contains verses about all different kinds of stories, including heroes like Perseus, Jason, and gods like Zeus, Poseidon, and Hecate. And, well, the vampire called Hecate her mother so surely… It could've been a lie or an alias, but then she threatened to take _him,"_ she pointed to Perseus, "to the Underworld. Again something to do with Greek mythology. And then he…" her voice faltered.

Perseus seemed to pity her, and finished the sentence for her; "And then I summoned my powers to help her out."

Harry's head whipped in Perseus' direction. "You what?"

"His powers," Hermione said, pushing her hair from her face. Her eyes were still wide, as if in shock, but her voice sounded calm. Probably still convinced she was sleeping while at the same time feeling wide awake. (Harry could relate to the feeling.) "He summoned an entire _wave_ using just this little twitch of his hand… it was a power no wizard can master without his wand, not even you, Harry… And, well, it surely helped when he turned the water into a trident before driving it through the vampire's throat. That made his parentage quite clear."

Ron whistled. "No kidding."

Hermione, however, still wasn't done. "Plus, this camp… it's filled with cabins representing every god, isn't it?" She turned around, and pointed with her wand at the golden cabin that had fascinated Harry the other night so much. "That's a cabin for Apollo, god of the sun, isn't it?" Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and pointed at the biggest, most sturdy looking cabin behind Perseus and Annabeth. Only Annabeth flinched slightly when Hermione's wand pointed in their direction. "That's got to be the one built for Zeus, since it's the biggest. That one there is for Poseidon, and the one next to Zeus… Well, it can't be from Hades, since it's designed as if for a woman, seeing it's so slender and beautiful… and, well, not decorated with symbols representing the Underworld. So, Hera, I guess? But it's more of a token of respect, I think, seeing as she's the goddess of marriage and wouldn't want to cheat, so that means there are no demigod children here to occupy that cabin…"

If nobody said anything, she'd probably rambled all night. Hermione finding out something this big and new – well, it would certainly be catastrophic to everyone, seeing she probably wouldn't stop talking and researching until she knew everything there possibly was left to know.

So Harry, figuring he did everyone a huge favor, stepped in and cleared his throat loudly. "Hermione? You're rambling."

"- what?" she turned around to look at him, her eyes first kind of glossy before they focused on him. "Oh." Hermione grinned, and blushed. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Annabeth's furious expression had changed into a curious one. "You're quite perceptive and clever, aren't you? What did you say your name was again?"

"Hermione." She answered, lowering her wand. "Hermione Granger. Why?"

"Nothing." Annabeth was looking her up and down. It clearly wasn't ' _nothing_ ', because she was looking at Hermione as if she just found herself a new best friend, or a new experiment. Harry wasn't sure what explanation was best, in Hermione's best interest. "Just thinking you could've been one of Athena's daughters."

Hermione flushed with pleasure, and sat down again.

"Well," she began after a little while of silence, "You still haven't answered my question."

It took Harry a while to realize the question was directed at him, and even when he did, he found that he couldn't answer. "I… I don't know what makes this prophecy real, all right? Trelawney is a big hoax, we all know that, but maybe she's been right, after all?"

"Harry, mate," Ron said softly, "she predicted you to _die_. Multiple times."

"Everyone dies," Harry said darkly, but pulled himself together pretty quickly. "What I meant to say… well, I don't bloody well know what I meant to say, all right? All I know is that their Oracle told us a prophecy, including Perseus and I, telling us to go on a quest to save the world."

Hermione looked at him for a little while, as if wanting to argue. She surprised him, however, by just saying; "What was the prophecy?"

Harry began, _"The boy blessed with lightning and his friends of gold_ ,"

" _Shall travel with the sea god's son and company of old_ ," Annabeth continued. _"To stop the dark snake's rise to power once more_ ,"

Percy's voice sounded oddly calm, _"Facing pain and deadly losses to stop a war_ ,"

 _"Unifying their wands and swords against all odds_ ," Annabeth nudged Perseus, even though she'd interrupted Harry first, _"To save the world_ –"

 _"Before the solstice of the gods_." Harry finished.

"So…" Hermione cleared her throat. "Okay. That sounds real enough. Still, Harry, it's just a prophecy…"

"Prophecies can be real, when told by the right people in the right time." Lupin had finally found his voice again, and he hoisted himself up using some support from Sirius. "I've heard some prophecies in my time, I've heard rumors of ones coming up, too…" he had Sirius shared a knowing look, "And Professor Trelawney's tea-leaves and dream-journals… they're not quite the same. This prophecy is, I'm afraid, quite real, and ignoring it could have dire consequences."

Annabeth looked at Perseus, and said, "That basically means that Percy and Harry have to work together to stop whatever 'dark snake' the prophecy is referring to. It also hints that Percy has to bring along his old friends, meaning me and Grover –"

Perseus crossed his arms stubbornly, clearly not agreeing.

"- and Harry's got to bring his 'friends of gold'." She continued, ignoring her boyfriend mumbling under his breath. "Normally only three people are allowed to go on a quest, but I have a feeling this one's different."

"Why can only three people go?" Harry asked.

"Because only three can return alive."

Every head whipped around to find the source – and Harry's frown increased when he saw that Nico had been the one to speak up. Nico looked sad and angry at the same time, using his black sword as a cane to lean on. He looked more like an old man than a kid in that moment, the flames contouring his face to make it look like it was carved in stone. "Don't look at me like that, Percy," he snapped, "You know I speak the truth."

"Yes, I know." Perseus sounded exhausted. Did that boy ever sleep peacefully? All he seemed to be was either tired or angry. "But you _know_ this prophecy sort of tells us to bring more people, meaning we haven't got another choice."

Nico gestured wildly, clearly dismissing him. "Be my guest. Just know that I warned you."

"But –" Ginny cleared her throat, her head snapping between Nico's and Perseus's face as if watching a tennis game, "That first line means Harry, right? The boy blessed with lighting? It's _got_ to refer to your scar."

"That isn't a blessing!" Sirius snorted, and Harry wanted to agree.

"That opinion varies, actually," Lupin said dryly. "You could see it as a curse, knowing what… what the curse was supposed to do… or you could see it as a blessing; seeing as the curse didn't do its proper work."

"And obviously," Hermione chipped in, "the maker of the prophecy thought it was the latter."

Harry had a feeling they were constantly driving in circles, going over the same questions over and over and getting absolutely nowhere. All he wanted to do this evening was establish who was going along, and where they were going to start to stop Voldemort's American version of rising to power. "Anyway," he said loudly, happy to see everyone turned to him again, "It's clear it's got to be me and Perseus. My 'friends of gold', well, I guess they're you guys…"

"You can't all take them." Annabeth said quickly, counting heads. "Three is normally the limit, and for you to take all seven doesn't make sense. I guess we have to go with six in total, that way we can split up in two groups of three."

Perseus turned to her, smirking. "You want to cheat."

A blush colored her cheeks, and Annabeth was obviously trying not to smile when she said: "It's not _cheating_ , I'm merely bending the rules to make it work."

"And more importantly," Nico added, "safe."

Harry eyed his friends, knowing they were all waiting for his answer of the unasked question.

Who would he take with him?

The safest answer would, of course, be Sirius or Lupin. They were adults, knew more about magic and fighting and war than any of them, and they had been ordered to keep Harry safe. (And letting him go on a quest alone without proper supervision probably didn't count as 'safe'.)

But then again… his friends of gold clearly referred to his Hogwarts friends, _not_ his godfather and friend. And even though Fred and George were older, and knowing Ginny would hex him into the next century, he couldn't help but desperately want Ron and Hermione at his side during all this.

They'd been with him through everything so far, except during the Triwizard Tournament last year, but that hadn't stopped them from _trying_ to help him. They had stood beside him trying to get past the traps in their first year, Ron had gone along to the Chamber of Secrets, they'd both been there when the truth about Sirius was revealed…

There just really weren't two other people he'd rather have at his side than his two best friends.

"Harry," Annabeth interrupted his thoughts, "Who are you going to –"

"Ron and Hermione." He said immediately, ignoring his other friends (and most importantly, his godfather) protesting. "They're my best friends, and we're in the same house at our school known for its red and _golden_ colors. It's the obvious choice."

"We're from Gryffindor too!" Fred, George and Ginny shouted angrily, as he had expected them to.

"It is Harry Potter's quest," a deep voice suddenly said, and everyone jumped. Chiron had finally spoken. He'd watched their discussion intently and silently until now, but he was obviously convinced they'd get nowhere without his interference. "It is his choice, after all."

Harry nodded in his direction, mouthing a silent _thank you_.

Chiron just made a movement with his hands, and smiled, as if to say, _no problem_. He then turned to Harry's friends and said with a booming and official voice, "Ron and Hermione, do you accept this quest?"

"Yes," they called in unison, not even a second of doubt. "Of course we do," Ron added, grinning to Harry.

"Ta, mate," Harry said, grinning back. He hadn't expected them to say no, but still, he couldn't help but feel infinitely grateful for their unwavering friendship.

"And you, Perce?" Annabeth turned to Perseus, crossing her arms and quirking her eyebrows as if expecting a fight. "Who are you taking with you?"

Perseus looked around frantically, scanning the crowd for ways of escaping the question. He looked at Nico – who just smirked – at Thalia waving at him cheerfully – at Will and other blonde boys just rolling their eyes – until his gaze fell upon his girlfriend. "I just…" he sighed. "Fine. _Fine_. I'll take Annabeth and Grover, since they're my 'friends of old'."

"And because we work _well_ together," Annabeth reminded him, and Perseus almost smiled.

"Just one thing," Nico said, grinning, "We've first got to convince Grover to come, seeing as he's got a lot of duties these days and isn't even _here_ at the moment."

"I'm sure Juniper will convince him to come along," Annabeth said surely, "that won't be a problem. And now that we've established _who_ is going to go on a quest, we've got to go to the armory before we can go."

Harry started coughing in surprise. "Excuse me, but the armory? We've got wands, remember, we don't need your swords."

"You do in fact need some real weapons, you idiot," Thalia said, but she said it with a warm and mocking tone. "In case someone - or rather some _thing_ \- disables your sparkly magic sticks."

"They're not _sticks…"_ Harry protested, but was ignored.

"They're right," Lupin suddenly said, smiling warily when Harry looked at him in surprise. "If he… uh, Perseus, was it, right?" Everyone nodded. "If Perseus hadn't come along, I wouldn't have been able to rescue Hermione – my spells had bounced off the ' _vampire's_ ' skin effortlessly. I'm afraid you do indeed need some more… medieval weaponry to properly equip yourselves."

"Excuse me, sir," a blond boy suddenly said, stepping out from the crowd and smirking as if he knew a dirty secret. "Hate to break this to you, but our weapons are anything _but_ medieval."

 _x-x-x_

Turned out, the boy (Jake Mason, son of Hephaestus) was right.

Their weapons were, in lack of a better description, _cool._

For one thing, the cabin number nine, in which the armory was located, was unlike any other building Harry'd ever stepped foot in.

Each bed in the cabin had been updated, containing a digital control panel, blinking LED lights, glowing gems, and interlocking gears. The cabin itself had, in comparison to your usual wooden walls and doors, shiny metal walls and metal slated doors. To add to it all, an honest-to-god fire pole came down from the second floor, and a circular staircase led down into some kind of dark basement.

The walls to their sides were lined with every kind of power tool imaginable, and a huge assortment of weaponry. A workbench on the other side of the room was overflowing with scrap metal, screws, bolts, washers, nails, rivets, and a million other machine parts.

Sure, it was messy and untidy and it didn't seem to have any kind of order, but it was, nevertheless, _awesome_.

Harry could almost feel Ron's confusion and awe radiating off him, his mouth wide open with shock and inability to ask all the questions he wanted to ask.

"Right." Jake Mason said, grinning when he saw their baffled faces. " _Told you_ it wasn't medieval. Sure, we're the children of ancient gods, but that doesn't mean we can't update our gear."

"It's..." Sirius had joined them, looking around greedily at all their equipment as if seeing a fortune. Harry knew Sirius had always been a lover of muggle technology – it certainly explained his love for his flying bike – and he smiled at his godfather's giddiness. This cabin was in Sirius' opinion nothing short but heaven. "It's _amazing._ Is it all self-built?"

"Of course." Jake said. "We're the children of Hephaestus, after all."

Hermione was examining the wall of mechanical-looking bows and arrows carefully. "He's the god of Forgery, right?"

Jake nodded. "And fire, craftsmen, technology, sculptors, volcanoes and blacksmiths."

"A mouth full," Hermione muttered, stretching out her hand to grab one of the blue and humming arrows.

" _No!"_ Jake jumped up suddenly, pulling her away with a little too much force than necessary from it before her fingers could touch it.

"Oy," Ron quickly intervened, pulling Hermione from his grip. "What are you playing at?"

"She shouldn't touch it." Jake said, his cheeks reddened. "It's a special arrow, and setting it off means blowing up this cabin. That hasn't happened this week yet and I don't want to break that record, thanks very much."

Harry stole a side-long glance at Annabeth to see if he was lying, but her face remained the same, impassive and slightly bored.

"Anyway," Perseus finally said, "Can we just pick some weapons and go? We haven't got all day."

"Fine." Jake sighed, and grabbed the nearest blade he could reach. "This is a Roman Gladius," he told them, swapping the sword quickly from his left hand to his right, showing off his skill with the blade. "It's a reasonably light sword, and short, which means easy to use for inexperienced swordsman like yourself."

"But it's _bronze_ ," Hermione protested. "Roman blades weren't bronze."

He grinned widely at her. "Oh, I like you."

Ron was grumbling at Harry's side, and as it was his duty as Ron's best friend, he nudged him to just _grow up._

"Because you're right," he continued, purposely not noticing Ron cursing and rubbing his arm, "Normally they're not. But our weapons are specially forged to be able to hunt down monsters and actually harm or maim them. Weapons made by mortals, such as guns, don't work on them."

"Let's just get everyone a weapon and go, right?" Perseus said, jumping from one foot to the other impatiently.

Ginny groaned annoyed, and turned to him. "What is it with you and this haste? Do you have ADHD or something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." He snapped back.

Jake sighed, and gave Hermione the sword. "Let's do this quickly, then, so you can all go on your quest." He turned to Hermione, and said, "Just strap that one to your back – no, wait," he blushed, handing her a rubber holster, "put it in here first before you scratch yourself. Then put it around like… yeah, like that." Satisfied that Hermione had strapped the blade tightly to her back, with leather bands holding it in place, he turned to the weapons again. "Now we just need to get you a dagger –"

Perseus groaned.

Under normal circumstances, Harry wouldn't been annoyed at his impatience. At the moment, though, knowing they only had until the summer solstice (whenever that day was, anyway) to stop Voldemort, he couldn't help but want to groan along with him at the slow speed this was all going.

Hermione, however, ignored them all. "Why do I need a dagger? I've already got a sword."

"You need two weapons, because however good your one weapon may be, you should always have a back-up. Like, if you use a sword, have a dagger with you. That way you have something for close combat, too." Annabeth answered her, for some reason smiling widely. "You should never rely on only _one_ weapon, that's what idiots do."

It was silent for a few seconds before Perseus gasped in mock-hurt. "Hey! I'm not an idiot!"

Annabeth, laughing, and pushed him playfully. "You kind of are, Seaweed Brain."

He mumbled under his breath, clasping something in his right-front pocket possessively.

"Anyway," Jake said, rolling his eyes but smiling, "let's get this over with."

And within the next fifteen minutes, Ron, Hermione and Harry were well-equipped and ready to take on a whole army. Hermione had taken the Roman Gladius and a small regular dagger. Ron was carrying a long-sword (its name wasn't original, but it was very fitting, seeing as its point almost hit the ground even though Ron was a very tall and lanky wizard) and a sickle. (It had taken a lot of time to let Ron calm down after he started laughing when they told him that this bended dagger was named after wizard money.)

And Harry, well… His sword was simply _magnificent_. It wasn't as nearly long as Ron's was, though slightly bigger than Hermione's, and its end was uneven, bended to make a dangerous and very sharp point. It was called a falchion, apparently, but it reminded Harry of blades used by pirates, making him feel rebellious and cool and not at all frightened for the upcoming quest. (Okay, maybe a tiny bit frightened.) The sword didn't glow like Perseus' did, but it did have a sort of vibration that felt magical, telling Harry it wasn't like any other sword he'd seen.

Jake was eyeing Harry as he clasped the sword to his thigh using a leather belt. "It's great for stabbing, you know," Jake finally said, and he grinned when Harry stared at him. "Will told me about your little fight with the smoke warrior in the forest," he explained, "I guessed this was the best choice for your techniques. It's not a sword for beginners, but he told me you really weren't one."

Harry cleared his throat nervously. "Right."

"Harry?" Hermione asked softly, turning around to look at him. "What is he talking –"

"And you shouldn't forget that dagger around your ankle," he reminded Harry sternly, interrupting Hermione. "We once had someone who forgot he was wearing that, and almost cut of his own food trying to play soccer."

Harry, ignoring Hermione, nodded at him. "I won't."

"Well, then," he said, looking at the lot of them. "I guess that's it. You're all done."

"Thank you, Jake," Annabeth said, smiling at him.

"No problem." He waved it off. "Just bring them back unharmed."

Harry was unsure whether he was referring to the weapons or his friends and himself – until he saw the loving look Jake was giving the sword Harry had strapped to his thigh.

He had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Let's go, then," Harry said, his hands in the pockets of his too-big hoodie. "And save the world before the summer solstice."

 _Clang._

All eyes turned on Hermione, who started blushing like mad at the attention. She'd dropped one of the daggers she'd been examining, letting it bounce on the floor and crash onto one of the walls with a crash. "Did you just say 'before the summer solstice'?"

"Yes," Harry said, looking at Ron as if he'd missed something. Ron, obviously not having the slightest clue either, just shrugged. "Why? It was in the prophecy, too, Hermione."

"I must've missed it." She muttered, her cheeks slowly paling, and she rubbed in her eyes. "How could I have missed this detail?"

"Why?" Ron asked, stepping a bit closer to her. "What's so important about the summer solstice?"

She looked up, her expression more serious than Harry had ever seen. "Ronald, the summer solstice is in _twelve days_."

 **xxx**

 **End of the chapter! It was a fairly long one, sorry about that. I just couldn't stop, apparently.**

 **Anyway, please let me know what you think! I simply adore reviews, so even if it's just to say hi: don't hold back on my account. (:**

 **As for you anonymous people:**

 _HoundInker:_ _Thank you so much! Hah, that first comment made me laugh. And, well, I hope this chapter was long enough, then, for you?_

 _V:_ _Thank you, so much! And as for your suggestion, sorry. I did have her fight someone else, though, so I hoped that's okay._

 _Guest:_ _…_ _holy Hercules. That's a million-dollar idea. Could I pretty please use it, it's genius!_


	17. Mother Knows Best

**Author's note:** Terribly sorry about the long and unexpected hiatus. I did not want to be gone this long, but things got in the way and I did not find myself to be able to write, let alone post, anything for a while. I have been, and still am, sick. This chapter is a bit longer, as a way of making up, and a thank you for all the wonderful people who have kept messaging me even though I wasn't responding. (And the Happy New Year/ Merry Christmas messages really made my day! This chapter, my lovelies, is for you!) And, as always, a big bunch of gratitude is reserved for my special friend Stella. I very platonically love you, Moony.

Enjoy.

* * *

 **Chapter 17**

 **Mother Knows Best**

"So, we survived," Harry said dryly, trying to catch his breath. "That's a win."

"You're a right bastard, you are," Ron said, grinning, breathing heavily and clutching his thighs with his eyes set on Harry, "And I _hate_ you."

It was night, and beside the heavy breathing of the group no sound could be heard. Annabeth was rubbing her bloodied dagger on a tree, her other hand holding her hair back. Perseus was bouncing up and down – the only one of the group not looking as if they'd just ran for their lives – his bronze sword constantly switching between his right and left hand.

"You _do_ realize that without Harry," the satyr said, staring at Ron with wide eyes, "we wouldn't have gotten away unharmed as we did?"

"Yeah," Perseus said, his eyes darting between Hermione (who was clutching her knees, bend over, breathing slowly through her clenched teeth) and Ron (who was still glaring daggers at Harry). "That was an impressive thing you did there, Potter."

"You were," Harry heaved, "also," another deep breath, "pretty amazing out there, too, Jackson."

Perseus grinned.

They hadn't been gone from camp for more than two hours, and they'd already run into weirder stuff Harry had seen all summer long. (Not counting the end of his Fourth year of Hogwarts.)

Chiron had said his goodbyes after they'd dragged the satyr named Grover Underwood out of bed – he'd been remarkably easy to convince to come with, though Harry had a feeling that the green but pretty girlfriend of Grover's goading him on helped on that bit – and they'd set off into the forest.

Annabeth had been convinced that there must be some sort of mark, or footprint, or any other sign of where the 'vampires' had come from. It was not much, but it was the only lead they had to find whoever was responsible for sending the monsters. (And since Harry wasn't ready to tell the Greek demigods about Voldemort just yet…)

So, anyway, they'd set off, tracing the footprints left behind. Grover had taken the lead, his nose high up in the air, and Annabeth had followed, her eyes always on the ground, searching for signs. It all went well for about an hour, until they found something more memorable than a simple footprint in the mud.

"Well, isn't this a pretty sight," a voice had suddenly called, eyes glinting at the odd group from the dark. "The son of Poseidon and his little group of _minions_."

At first Harry hadn't seen her. He'd just heard a female voice, almost soft and sweet in his ears, the voice that could belong to no one but a mother. It was deep and rich, no American accent (and no British one, either, it was one of those accents that simply couldn't be extinguishable), and it made Harry freeze.

The last thing he knew to do was to trust someone with that kind of voice, _especially_ one that was lurking in the dark, had yellow eyes, and knew that Perseus was the son of a god. Sweet voices were nothing but trouble, in his experience.

"Who are you?" Perseus called, his sword out immediately.

"That hurts, my dear boy, it really does." A high clicking sound followed, and Harry realized with a sickening feeling that it must've been her laugh. "The famous Percy Jackson, not knowing who I am? You _wound_ me."

Annabeth had her dagger out, too, and she pointed it at the source. "Come out, wherever you are!"

"Youth nowadays," the voice said, almost slurring now, " _ever_ so polite."

And with that, she came slithering to them through the darkness.

Yes, Harry thought, certain that his heart had stopped due to sheer fright and shock, 'slithering' had been the only right way to describe her movements.

Because the beautiful woman – by far the most beautiful woman Harry had ever seen in his life – didn't walk, nor run, nor glide _._

Walking required legs, you see.

And she didn't have any.

She had a _tail._

A slick, cold, greenish black and _long_ tail you'd normally see at the end of a deadly snake.

Ron choked, his eyes almost bulging out of its sockets. "Medusa?"

The woman snarled, her teeth baring. They were pointy and snow-white, with green sludge dripping from her canine teeth, as if poisonous. "Medusa? She's a gullible monster, weak, and still in Tartarus because of _him_!" She pointed at Perseus, who didn't even flinch. "She had just lived in her little hole without the proper excitement one normally does when pursuing mortals, and whines about getting defeated? She's a disappointment to the monster community if you'd ask me, and comparing me to her certainly did you no good, Ronald Weasley!"

Harry almost dropped his wand in surprise. How did she know his name?

Unfazed by Ron's frozen and confused expression, she continued; " _I_ am Echidna, _boy_ , mother of all monsters, so the next time you even _think_ about insulting me, know that it will be the last thought that -"

"Echidna." Perseus interrupted, his voice soft. "I remember that name from somewhere…"

Her gaze snapped to Perseus, and Ron's shoulders sacked in relief. "You should, _boy_. My child did kill you once – or nearly, whatever."

"Perce?" Annabeth asked, her eyes never leaving Echidna, yet her feet darted closer to her boyfriend. "What is she talking about?"

Echidna started laughing – and again Harry had to suppress the urge to shiver. Her laugh sounded like a hundred nails dragging across a board. "Hasn't he told you, child? We met upon an Arch once, in Louisiana five years ago, and he fought against my dear Chimera – not that he stood any chance. He fled after he was poisoned, oh dear." She clicked her tongue, still grinning manically.

"I didn't _flee!_ " Perseus snapped. Something was buzzing in the distance, as if a storm was coming, and Annabeth's fearful gaze met Harry's. That had sounded way too familiar to one of Perseus' anger tantrums to be comfortable.

"Jumping down 630 feet because you couldn't defeat my child sounds oddly like running away, doesn't it?"

"I did jump, yes," Perseus said back, his eyes darting between Echidna and his girlfriend, "but you _can't_ be Echidna. She was old, fat, and weird –"

The buzzing stopped, and the mother of monsters leaned in closer on Perseus. Her expression had changed slightly, the sharp edges of her cheekbones almost glowing now, thinning her skin as if radiant. "I had been told you were intelligent, boy, but I seem to have been mistaken."

"I am not stupid." He snapped, his left fist balled at his side. Harry had the feeling that Perseus was _this_ close to losing it, and unconsciously he stepped a little closer to Hermione and Ron to protect them if the storm broke loose. "You had legs! You looked _mortal!_ Like a proper grandmother, talking to her dog as if it were her child –"

"My chimera isn't a _dog_!" She took a deep breath, as if trying to stop herself from killing them all in fury.

"Oh," Annabeth suddenly said, groaning in realization. "The Mist."

Echidna started laughing, and she clapped her hands together, her tail twirling behind her. "A smart daughter of Athena – why am I not surprised? You are very right, child, the Mist is a crafty thing, especially to a weak mind."

Perseus growled. "I'm not a –"

Echidna waved her hand. "You're a half-blood, boy, of course you are a weakling. You all are." Her gaze swept over Harry's friends, her eyes glistening with glee when she saw Grover cowering in fear under her glance, until her gaze met Harry's. "Ah," she said, her breath leaving her. "Harry Potter. I've heard so much about you."

Harry's grip tightened around his wand. "You have?"

"Of course I have." She waved her hand carelessly at them, her long and sharp nails flashing in the dark. "Your tale is famous even among our world, child. Hecate simply could not stop talking about you, and if something travels fast between ancient beings, it's gossip."

Something was short-circuiting in Harry's brain.

He was famous?

(Okay, he knew that he was famous, but that was in the wizarding world! Not the world of _Percy Jackson_ , with ancient gods and monsters and giants and prophecies. That was just as absurd as Ron being a Hollywood star, and Hermione the next run-in President of the United States – it just didn't make any _sense_.)

A thousand questions shot through Harry's thoughts, but finally he mastered to get one simple word out without stumbling over his voice; "Hecate?"

"Goddess of Magic," Annabeth whispered quickly. "She fought on the side of Kronos during the – uh, never mind."

"Indeed, never _you_ mind." She snarled at Annabeth, but smiled the second she crossed eyes with Harry again. "You are a legend, boy, with a thrilling destiny ahead of you. Don't blame me for wanting to get a good look at you before taking you to my new Lord."

Ron and Hermione automatically stepped closer to Harry, their wands drawn and high up in the air. Even Perseus turned so that he was standing with his back in Harry's direction, his focus completely on the snake, and he asked: "What do you mean, your new lord?"

"No one that concerns you!" Echidna sighed, her tail swishing in the same sharp movements as her hands as she snarled; "For once in your life, Perseus Jackson, my side does not care about _you!_ How does it feel, boy, to not be the center of the attention for once?" She turned to Harry again, her expression softening. Harry just felt sick. "Where were we? Ah, right. Your abduction –"

Perseus slammed his sword to the ground in anger before pointing it at Echidna again. Her focus left Harry's. "Congratulations, Echidna," he said, trying to keep her focus on him, "you just graduated to Grade-A douchebag –"

When Echidna cut him off, Harry couldn't blame her. (The joke hadn't been _that_ funny.)

"Enough!" She said, her eyes flaring with yellow fury. "I was asked to abduct Harry Potter, _only_ Harry Potter, and I was going to have mercy on the rest of you, but if you keep on taunting me like that, son of Poseidon, I'll make sure _none_ of you are walking away from this alive. Not you, not your girlfriend, not your satyr friend, _no one_."

"Yeah?" Perseus said in a low voice, and Harry had to suppress a shiver. "Are you so sure about that, Echidna?"

There was a dark tremor in Perseus' voice, that made Harry suddenly realize that the whole time at camp Perseus had never been _afraid_ of Harry.

Perseus didn't snap, ball his fists, nor hesitate when afraid. (Maybe when he was angry or confused, but _not_ in fear.)

He was steady and in control, and Harry completely understood why he was famous among the monsters of this world.

They were afraid of him.

And honestly – he couldn't blame them.

"How dare you, you pesky little infant!" She snarled, her nails growing and growing until they were small but sharp daggers, her tail transforming into one with deadly spikes. If Harry hadn't wanted to run away when she first appeared in the forest, he wanted to run away now. "Did you somehow forget that it was _I_ that had defeated you? Without your father's mercy you would never have survived that fall. I have come closer to killing you, Perseus Jackson, than any monster can truthfully boast about, and you _still_ talk back at me?"

Perseus laughed. The sound sent chills down Harry's spine, though for an entire different reason Echidna's laughter did. "Yes."

When Echidna snarled something that oddly sounded like a curse in a different language, Ron leaned to Harry and whispered; "I'm pretty convinced Percy's got a death wish."

Harry laughed soundlessly, his eyes constantly shooting between Perseus' rigid stance and Echidna glaring at him.

A storm was about to break loose, even he could feel it, and if he didn't do anything to stop it they'd all be ripped to shreds by Echidna's (or Perseus's) fury.

"Echidna," Harry called, stepping out from behind his best friends – who looked like they wanted to murder him the minute they were safe again. "You said you were ordered to take me. By who?"

Annabeth and Hermione both sighed a silent; "By _whom,"_ but were ignored.

Echidna's head snapped back to him, and he immediately regretted calling for her attention.

Ron had thought she was Medusa when she'd first stepped into the clearing. At first, he'd cursed Ron inwardly for his stupidity. Right now, however, he was pretty convinced Echidna had to at least be related to her – like a sister, or a distant cousin – or some other monster whose glare could kill with hair that looked remarkably liked little and poisonous snakes.

"Why," Echidna cackled, "by none other than The Dark Lord himself, of course!"

Hermione took a sharp breath. " _You-Know-Who_?"

Perseus looked behind him, his face one of total confusion. (Harry had to give it to the guy, he still didn't look scared at all.) "You know who's she's talking about?"

"Everyone knows who You-Know-Who is," Ron snapped.

"Unless You-Know-Who has an actual name, how am I supposed to know who the who is in You-Know-Who?"

"Percy." Annabeth called, nudging him. "Whoever the who in You-Know-Who is, it's not important right now."

"Not important right now?" He looked as if she'd just told him she thought Echidna's tail looked gorgeous, and wanted one of her own. "I think it's pretty important to know who you-know-who –"

Harry fought the urge to laugh. If Perseus kept on saying 'who' like that repeatedly, he'd turn into an owl.

Echidna sighed, effectively cutting off the son of Poseidon. "I'm getting bored with this quarrel. If you'd all just lower your wands and swords and let me take the Chosen One, you could all be on your merry way."

It took Harry a moment to realize that she was talking about him.

It took him a much shorter time to draw his wand with his right hand, his sword with his left, and have a curse not far away from his lips.

His friends were no different.

Ron and Hermione were but a heartbeat slower than he was, jumping in front of him with their wands aimed straight at Echidna's heart, Ron's longsword quivering in front of him and Hermione's dagger steady in her other hand.

He _hated_ that they'd jumped in front of him, throwing themselves into danger like that.

But it did make his heart swell with love for them.

Instead of scaring Echidna with their resistance at her order, she started laughing. Hard. As if they were children, who'd amused her with their theatrics. "Oh, how adorable," she cackled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, "you actually think you stand a chance?"

Perseus had sheathed his sword, but his hands were raised and his look was one of total determination. "Yes."

"You do remember that it was I that –"

"Defeated me when I was twelve? Yes. So you've said. Multiple times." He twisted his wrist slightly, his eyes narrowing. "Quite frankly, it's getting old."

At first Harry didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

But then his shirt started to stick to his back. His hair suddenly felt heavy and sweaty, and the air he breathed felt warmer and thicker.

 _Perseus was creating water out of thin air._

Holy mother of Merlin's –

"What is getting old?" Echidna asked, not noticing the change of moisture in the air. (Probably her scaly skin preventing her from feeling slight temperature changes.) "Are you getting _scared_?"

Harry stepped forward, pushing his best friends out of the way to stand right next to Perseus. The air was even heavier next to him, every drop of water gathering around the boy as if shielding him. "No," Harry said in a low voice, "but you should be."

Perseus looked at Harry for a few seconds before turning back to Echidna. He nodded slowly and short, too unnoticeable to be seen by anyone but Harry. An understanding passed between the two boys, who instinctively inched closer so they stood shoulder by shoulder, both their backs straightened and ready to strike.

The Mother of Monsters rolled her glowing eyes. "I don't think –"

" _Now_!" Perseus bellowed suddenly, jumping up and thrusting his hands forward with his palms aimed at Echidna.

The beam of water pouring from Perseus' hands was impressive, but not lethal (nor enough to get Echidna to run away).

So Harry, thinking the least he could do was help him, raised his wand, took a deep breath and bellowed: _"Aqua Eructo!"_

And suddenly the tiny stream of water changed into a heavy waterfall.

"W-w-w-er-?" was heard bubbling from the other side, Echidna wrestling to not swallow the water. The pressure of the waterfall was slowly forcing her to back up, pushing her further and further away from the group. "Y-u-nk-stop- _no-thing_ -can-"

Another twist of Perseus' hand, and the waterfall stopped. The water instead started twirling around her, enveloping her in a big bubble, in which she was trashing and screaming soundlessly, her hands waving around with no use.

Harry lowered his wand, his eyes focused on Perseus.

This wasn't normal.

Sure, he himself was a wizard, and he could probably do a lot of damage… but _this_?

Perseus was practically choking an immortal being with water he'd created from thin air with just a twitch of his hand. It wasn't impressive, nor beautiful.

It was _frightening._

Then suddenly it all stopped.

The tight bubble of water popped, spraying water all over them. Perseus staggered, his breath leaving him, would've fallen down from fatigue if it wasn't for Annabeth's tight hold on his arm.

Perseus cursed under his breath, and said, "She can control the –"

"Water." Echidna said, her voice suddenly very calm, and very deadly. Her skin was glowing now, just like her eyes were, and the air started to feel a bit too hot. "Of course I can survive a little _water_ you insolent little child! I am _Echidna,_ not some tiny bump in the road of your, quite ridiculous, childish quest!"

"Our quest," a serious voice suddenly called from behind Harry, "is neither childish, nor is it ridiculous."

Echidna cackled again. "Satyr boy! You needn't interfere, do you child? This is none of your –"

"HA- _YAAA!"_

At the sound of the ridiculously loud battle-cry, Harry turned to look behind him, and quickly dove out of the way, just in time to miss Grover hurtling himself at the Mother of Monsters.

Grover had just his sword, and his impressive determination – and Harry had, for a second or two, hope the satyr was going to succeed.

But alas, Echidna waved his sword out of the way as if it was merely a wooden stick, and threw him back, slamming Grover's body into Percy's with enough force to topple a mountain.

"Is that all?" Echidna asked, for the first time that night disappointed. "What _water_ and a _goat?_ I'm trying my hardest here not to feel insulted."

Before any of them could retort, however, she started wailing like a banshee and ran towards them, her claws stretched forward and aimed right at Harry's chest.

Everyone jolted right into action.

Annabeth jumped in, screaming something in Greek, while her dagger barely missed the slashing tail of Echidna's. Her boyfriend was still on the ground with a groaning Grover on top of him, but Harry's friend were quick to react.

Hermione was shouting one curse after the other, all of them bouncing of Echidna's thick skin as if it were mere feathers, and Ron was cursing and throwing his sword around, shouting abuse and murder.

Harry was at first rendered speechless. His friends, old and new, were fighting like a chaotic horde of children with swords they did not know how to use, to protect him at all costs. Echidna was forcing her way through them as if they were nothing, her face one of total determination, and Harry knew that it wouldn't take long for her to beat them all senseless, or worse.

Percy might have talked big just a moment ago, but defeating her? _Mother of monsters_? They were just children. They didn't stand a chance.

At least, Harry thought, not without some tricks.

"Oy," He yelled, trying to get Echidna's – and his friends' – attention. Strangely enough, Echidna pushed Annabeth away harshly one last time, and looked up to him with one perfect eyebrow raised. His friends were heaving heavily, out of breath, while she hadn't even had one single hair out of place. "It's me you want, yes?" Harry continued, sounding braver than he felt. "So come get me, then, and leave my friends alone."

"My, my," Echidna cackled, and pushed Hermione down easily while laughing. (She'd tried to slash her throat while Echidna wasn't looking at her.) "Feeling selfless, are we?"

"No." Harry lazily threw his swords from his right hand to his left, his eyes constantly switching between Echidna and Hermione on the ground. (Was she hurt? She better not be hurt.) "Just bored."

"You wish to fight, Chosen One? Fine." She waved her hand, and Annabeth fell down for the fifth time that night. (The blonde was getting more creative with her curses, though.) "Then we shall fight."

"Fine." Harry said, ignoring Ron shouting at him. (" _What in the name of Merlin's soggy underpants do you think you're_ doing, _you idiot!_ ")

 _Just thrust forward and hope for the best_ , Harry thought dryly when Echidna's smirked at him. _Just like stabbing that smoke warrior_ , he firmly told himself when the Mother of Monsters broke into a run.

He held up his sword, making sure Echidna's focus was all on that.

Just when her claws barely touched the tip of his blade, he heaved out a heavy: _"Arresto Momentum!"_ and jumped out of the way.

She stumbled, the spell un-effective, though it did momentarily distract her.

Before she could regain her balance Harry thrust forward, his edged blade just scratching across Echidna's belly, not enough to harm her.

She screamed, flailing her hands in the air, and she clawed at him.

All truth be told, Harry Potter was no expert in sword-fighting. He'd never had classes, he'd never even play-pretended when he was young with wooden swords (like the Dursley's would have ever given him permission to have toys like that, let alone play with them.) He knew he was quick on his feet with his wand, but with a sword?

Absolutely not.

Yet when Echidna's claws barely missed his head, everything in him jolted into survival-mode.

He slashed, ducked, side-stepped, stabbed, jumped, threw, pushed, and ducked again.

Time and time again he kept missing her teeth, her claws, her tail – as if he was playing a perfect dance with life and death.

And when Echidna's movements started to become sloppy due to irritation and annoyance, Harry started smiling.

Fighting isn't hard, he thought, it's _fun._

He'd dropped his wand during the fight, but he couldn't care less. He jumped over her tail one last time, and shouted a " _Incendio!"_ by instinct.

He hadn't expected to hit her heart, honestly.

And he certainly hadn't expected his sword to catch fire with wandless magic, too.

But when it happened, when Echidna's annoyed and angry expression froze before she started disintegrating, well… he was the last person to complain.

 _x-x-x_

"God, George," Ginny sighed, pushing her older brother further into the bushes. "Could you just keep _quiet?_ Someday you're going to get us all killed."

The three remaining Weasleys at camp were currently hiding just outside the Camp side, staring at the Half-Bloods walking up and down the field, controlling the whole area in case any monsters decided to drop by. A few yards away, you could just see the silhouettes of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin talking agitatedly to Chiron.

Fred sighed deeply. "Gin, this isn't going to work. We have no idea where they're headed –"

"Shut up," she hissed, staring intently at one of the cabins, the one Clarisse and Thalia had just went in.

"He's right," continued George, a lot softer than his brother. "We have no plan, no weapons, no back-up, and –"

"Do I have to _stun_ you two?" She turned around, her eyebrows arched and her wand clenched in her right hand. They both quickly – and wisely – shut up. "I can go after them myself, you know, I don't _need_ you two breathing down my neck about everything that can go wrong."

"Oh, but Gin," Fred grinned, his teeth shining in the dark, "that's what brothers are for!"

She rolled her eyes, but pocketed her wand all the same. "And you're supposed to want to rescue your little brother, too."

"He's safe." Fred said. "He's with Hermione, and Harry –"

"Yes," Ginny said, her voice turning softer and more serious. "And that's exactly what I'm worried about. You _know_ what happens when Harry's involved, what kind of mess they can get themselves into."

"I thought you _fancied_ Harry."

Ginny, suddenly very glad it was too dark to notice any color changing in her face, cleared her throat. "That's got nothing to do with anything."

"Sure it doesn't." Both her brothers laughed, and she suddenly grabbed them, her nails set on their stomachs.

"Gin!"

"Merlin! Let go!"

" _Ginny!"_

 _"_ This is bloody _painful!"_

She laughed, and let go of their thighs. She hoped the marks would be bruises in the morning, as a reminder. "Are you done with your teasing?"

"Yes!" They both said quickly.

"Merlin," George said after a silence, rubbing his thigh with a painful expression. "You and Crookshanks have a lot of things in common, you know?"

Ignoring that comment, Ginny beckoned them, and pointed to the Ares Cabin. "Okay, they're all inside now. Time to go."

They had just risen to full length, when a cough behind them made them all freeze.

"Going somewhere?"

Ginny blinked, fought her urge to curse whoever was standing behind them to oblivion, and turned around with a big smile on her face. "Ah, it's you. Zombie Boy."

The tired-looking kid raised an eyebrow. "Ginevra. Nice nickname, I must say, not one I've heard before. Though I have to remind you that I have an actual name? It's Nico."

"And my name is Ginny," she said, sticking out her hand, "Not Ginevra."

"But… before, you said – fine." He took her hand, shaking it shortly.

 _Merlin_ , Ginny thought, redrawing her hand as quickly as possible. His hand felt ice-cold. "What brings you here?"

"Keeping an eye on you."

Fred and George grinned their mischievous, identical grin that was bound to make strangers nervous. Nico, however, didn't even twist a muscle. "No need, little man. We're quite capable of looking out for our little sister."

Ginny grinned. "She's also quite capable of looking out for herself."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean that. I know you wizards are capable of, well, powerful things. I've seen it first-hand."

The Weasleys all took a collective breath, as the realization sunk in. "Oh," Fred said seriously, "you're ordered to keep an eye on us, in case we want to run, is that it?"

"We're your _prisoners,_ " George continued, "aren't we?"

"Well," Nico unconsciously took a step backwards, his eyes scooting from Fred's wand to the cabins behind them, "'prisoners' is a big word for it…"

"I can't believe this." Ginny huffed. "C'mon, Fred, George, we're going."

"No, you're not." Nico stepped in front of them, his arms wide, as if he was strong enough to stop them. Ginny had to fight the urge to snort – that guy was at least a foot smaller than Fred and George were, and twice as skinny as Ginny was! She had to at least admire his persistence. "They went on a quest. You're not allowed to just join them. No one can leave camp without permission from Mr. D – and you only get it after you're offered a quest. You're not from our world, I get that, and I know you don't care about our rules, but shouldn't you care that your friends – your family – are involved in our world now, too? You can't just follow them without a plan, you might mess up the entire prophecy, and end the world by trying to ' _do good_ '!"

"That," Fred said dryly after a loaded silence, gesturing at the fuming boy, "is just a load of dung."

Ginny also rolled her eyes. "Let's just go, guys –"

"No!" Nico stamped his foot down, as if he were a child, but something happened. The ground around them started shaking, and the three Weasleys froze. "You guys just stay _there_ and _listen to me_."

Fred cleared his throat, his eyes on the moving ground. It was as if there was something under there that wanted to crawl back up – and it didn't seem to be alive. "We're listening."

Nico let go of his breath. "Finally. Okay. What I'm trying to say, you stubborn British bastards, is that you can't just follow your friends without a plan."

"Nico," Ginny said softly, ignoring the rumbling, "I don't think you understand. We need to protect our brother, our friend, and most of all we need to go after Harry. We promised everyone back home that we'd make sure nothing happened to him – you have no idea what would happen to our world if something _did_ happen…"

The boy groaned, his hands in his hair this time. (At least he wasn't threatening them with his sword.) "Just – please tell me. What in the name of _Hades_ is so dam special about Harry Potter? The two adults who came with you keep saying the same thing you just said – that you _need_ to protect him. That you _need_ to make sure he's fine. Why him? Who is he?"

"Long story, kid," Fred just said.

Nico raised an eyebrow, accepting the challenge. "I've got all night."

Ginny looked around for a way to run, and was disappointed that there was none.

Something told her that however small this kid was, however weak he may seem, he contained a lot more power than she could master. (The ground was still shaking, and the boy wasn't even _doing_ anything.) She'd heard Hermione's story about that Percy kid summoning water and controlling it as if it were nothing, without a spell, without a wand.

These kids were powerful, and maybe…

She started grinning.

Maybe they could be useful.

"Fine," she suddenly said, falling down on the floor on her bum, her legs stretched lazily. "I'd suggest you sit down, too, because this story is going to take a while."

Nico immediately sat down, the ground stilling beneath them.

Ginny's brothers sat down, too, one at either side of her.

She cleared her throat, and leaned in, as if she was telling him a secret. And in a way, she was. "The tale of Harry Potter, also known as the _Boy-Who-Lived_ , started fourteen years ago, on the dark evening of Halloween…"

* * *

 **Right, that's it folks. Please, let me know if you liked it!**

 **(There's this lovely little button with a 'leave a review' thingy on it. Click it. Make my day.)**

 **For you anonymous ones, who reviewed on the chapter before this one months ago, your patience is very much appreciated. (So sorry, though.)**

 _ArtemisDaughter:_ _Aw, you're review is just lovely! I'm glad you like this story, and I hope I don't let you down with the upcoming quest. Cheers._

 _ADesperateReader:_ _If you can use fanfics to breathe, I'm astounded. How are you able to do so? You must tell me your secret! (Though joking aside, thank you. That meant a lot.)_

 _GUEST:_ _Sorry for making the wizards 'powerful'. They, in my opinion, just are._

(Another) _Guest:_ _I love Harry! Of course I write people being astounded by him – because he's the savior of the wizarding world at the age of fifteen for christ' sake,_ _of course_ _people would be shocked by his power. Though don't worry, I added some Powerful!Percy in this chapter just to keep you happy :)_

 _Desperate:_ _Uh…. Sorry? I hope I'm not dead for you, now? And I suppose I should thank you, because fug it, I'm taking your review as a compliment._

 _Lyssa:_ _Shame you didn't log in, but thank you all the same! That really means a lot! It's always nice to know people like it. I hope I continue to keep you on edge. Love._


	18. What is Dead May Never Die

**a/n:** So. Um. Hi. Still alive. (Obviously.) I love you?

 **Chapter 18**

 **What is Dead May Never Die**

Hi, my name is Harry Potter and my life is what you could call _complicated._

It first started when a half-giant burst into a caved-in cottage in the middle of the North Sea – it had felt that way, anyway – on his eleventh birthday four years ago. It reached its peak when he found out his godfather was an escaped convict who had swam all the way from Azkaban to England transfigured into the body of a huge dog – and he had felt just completely _done_ with his life when he was transported to a graveyard where his nemesis was about to arrive back from the dead.

That pretty much topped everything.

But, according to his two best friends, going to America was by _far_ the weirdest thing that had ever happened to them.

"And most of all," Hermione said for the thousandth time, nearly knocking down Annabeth in gesturing too wildly, "I don't even get it. Wizarding world; fine. Sure. Give me a book on all its history, and I'm fine."

Ron snorted, kicking a small stone away. "True enough. Give her a book about your gods and she'll believe you instantly."

"I didn't mean that," She sighed, pushing her hair back. Not that it was of any use, anyway, since it seemed as if every leaf they'd passed by that day had been glued in it already. "I meant that I'm still too confused why our world," she gestured to Annabeth, "would want to work together with theirs."

Harry snorted. "Isn't it obvious?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder, an incredulous expression on her features. "No?"

He sighed. "Listen, do you remember that first night I was at Grimmauld's Place? When Sirius told us about Vol- uh, You-Know-Who's plans? Didn't he say that he would search for more people for his army? You-Know-Who is working together with _giants_ , Hermione, and with whatever other dark magical creature he can find." Harry bowed his head to duck under a branch, and nearly scratched himself on Ron's blade, who was walking directly in front of him. "If he's ready to bribe anyone he can find to join his army, why wouldn't he look _here_ , with a thousand-year-old history worth of dark creatures and other monsters, just ready to be used?"

It was quiet for a while, with only the soft crunching of leafs and twigs to be heard. Then, Ron; "Mate, that makes a disturbing amount of sense."

"It does," Perseus – _Percy_ – said, the only one not breathing as though they'd run a marathon, "unless you haven't a clue who You-Know-Who is, and why he wants to make an army. Oh, wait!" He fake-gasped. "That's exactly how I'm feeling!"

"Shove it, Percy," Hermione said lightly, which earned her a snort.

"Actually," Annabeth said, "as much as this pains me to say, I agree with Percy."

Grover snapped his head back around so fast it looked painful. "What?"

Percy shoved his hairy-legged friend playfully. "Don't act too surprised, Goat Boy. She sometimes does that. It's not _that_ uncommon."

"But, Perce," Grover replied with a smirk, "it is."

Ignoring her two oldest friends, Annabeth went on, this time her full attention on Harry. "As soon as we find a safe place to sleep, or rest, you lot are going to explain who Voldemort is – don't look so surprised, Harry, you've said his name more often than not – and why you're all so convinced he's the one we should be hunting. Then," she turned to Percy this time, her finger pointing at him accusingly. (He cowered a bit under her gaze, and Harry couldn't blame him.) "We're gonna sit down, talk, and make a plan, because walking around aimlessly just waiting for someone to attack us isn't the best we've ever had."

"What she said!" Ron said with a grimace. His hair was disheveled, in no better state than Harry's, and he was punching branches out of his way like he was in heavy combat-mode. "I'm absolutely done with these bloody –" a branch snapped back, smacking him right in the face, " _\- trees!_ They're out to get me, I'm sure of it!"

"No kidding!" A voice suddenly called, and everyone stilled. "Would _you_ like to get smacked in the face constantly?"

Ron was frozen, his hand in the air and a gob smacked expression on his features. "Wait a second - did that tree just talk to me?"

"Yes ' _that tree'_ talked to you! And you'll get smacked again if you keep referring to me as a sodding immobile wooden plant, you blithering idiot!"

Ron quickly held up his other hand, too, as if the tree held him at gunpoint. "Alright, alright! No need to get _testy_. Should've realized trees could talk and feel and stuff."

The air in front of Ron started to vibrate - and before Harry blinked again a brown girl had materialized, her arms crossed and an angry scowl on her face.

Her skin, her eyes and her mouth – everything was a dark brown color, the exact same color as the tree she had claimed to be hers. Harry wouldn't have been surprised if her tongue was brown, too. The only thing that wasn't brown was her hair – her frizzy, curly green hair standing in every direction, with shades of deep dark and light green entwined in it.

Harry had never met someone quite like her, but he was certain she must be a Nymph. (After all, he'd met Juniper, the girlfriend of Grover, and it was hard not to be fazed by a girl of one monotone colour anymore.)

"Oh," Ron breathed. "Hi. Sorry I hit you."

"Repeatedly." The girl said, narrowing her eyes.

Ron winced. "Yeah. Sorry about hitting you – repeatedly – and uh…" Hermione nudged him. "Calling you an immobile plant without feelings."

"Hmpfh." The girl was obviously still angry with him, and she turned her head – only to jump in delight when she caught sight of Grover. "Oh my – _Grover Underwood!_ "

The satyr in question blinked. "Hi?"

"Oh, I've heard so much about you!" She jumped over to him, and she pulled him into a hug before anyone could move a muscle. "Why are you, savior of the wild, hanging around with atrocities like _that_?"

Ron crossed eyes with Harry. "Did I just get insulted by a tree?"

"Um," Grover interrupted Ron inaudibly, sounding as if was being crushed by a bulldozer instead of a nymph, "We're on a quest."

"Oh, my." She finally let go of him, and Harry was amused to see that Grover looked a bit too relieved about that. "I've heard all about that, too. Oaky told me –"

"Oaky?" Hermione asked, stifling a laugh.

The nymph turned around, and raised a cold eyebrow at Hermione. "Yes. That's a name."

Hermione just blinked. "Sure."

Harry couldn't help but think, _for a tree, maybe._

"Where was I, before that stupid boy's girlfriend interrupted me? Ah right. Oaky told –"

"I'm _not_ his girlfriend!" Hermione called, at the same time Ron said: "She's not my girlfriend!"

"And I'm not stupid," Ron added in an after-thought.

"Yes you are," the nymph said in a bored tone, "because you keep being annoying while standing next to my tree. Do you _want_ to be killed by a falling branch?"

Ron immediately leaped away from the tree, nearly slamming Hermione to the ground in the process.

The nymph, entirely bored by his theatrics, turned around to face Grover again. "So, anyway. Oaky said that there's this guy without a nose in her forest making trouble – like, old-times kind of trouble that hasn't happened since the beginning of the summer." She pointed at Harry suddenly. "Since _his_ birthday, actually."

"Um," Harry said intelligently, "what do you mean, my birthday?"

"I think she means Percy's birthday," Annabeth said in a low voice. "That's when our war ended."

"That _is_ Percy, you idiot," the nymph said with a roll of her eye. "Do they leave the brains out of demigods on _purpose_ these days?"

"Okay, seriously?" Perseus – _Percy_ – said, throwing his hands in the air. "Everyone has got to stop doing that. We don't look _that_ much alike!"

The nymph stared at him. And stared some more. "Oh," she said finally, and she giggled. "Oh my, this is awkward. I'm sorry, gorgeous, I hadn't seen you over there." She turned to Harry now. "Who are you, then, if not some crazy clone of Percy Jackson?"

Harry felt like throwing his arms in the air out of frustration, too, but didn't, seeing as that'd probably fuel her belief that he and Percy were the same person. "I'm Harry Potter."

"Oh." Her face fell, as if he just told her he had an incurable disease, and something deep in Harry's stomach suddenly felt very cold. "That's unfortunate."

 _-xxx-_

"I don't _care_ ," Nico said for the hundredth time, contemplating whether or not it was worth it to run for his life and disappear to China, "you're not coming with us."

The Italian demigod was standing in front of a cowering, lean and above all angry Will Solace, his own arms crossed and a stubborn expression on his face. Nico looked even more stubborn, his lips perched together in a scowl and his eyebrows knitted together.

Ginny, Fred and George were sitting on the ground, their eyes never leaving the demigods, not daring to miss a minute of this fight.

"You don't care that I'm worried about you?" Will asked, looking as if Nico had just kicked a puppy. "You already know the limit to people taking on a quest is _three_ – six is pushing the limits to its extreme – and now you want to take these wizards –"

"And witch!"

Will turned to Ginny for a second, stared as if he couldn't believe she just interrupted him, turned back to Nico and said with a sigh, " _And witch_ , and follow them? Why?"

"Because there's no stopping them," Nico said simply. "And, you know how it gets with Percy on quests. Before you know he'll end the world by sneezing at the wrong time."

"You also know that he'd fix that himself, too. In my memory, Perce hasn't ruined any of his quests so far, so I don't see why now is so different."

"This isn't just our world now, Will," Nico said slowly, as if Will was a dumb infant who didn't understand. "It's _theirs_ too, and we have no clue what we're getting into. Aren't you worried?"

"Is it weird that I'm not? Hades, Nico, we saved the entire world with a bunch of _kids,_ I think we're fine with a simple quest like this."

"It's not simple."

"It is."

"It really isn't."

"It –"

"Merlin, if you two don't shut up I'll turn both of you into frogs!" Ginny finally shouted, and was pleased to see that both boys were staring at her. (Silently.) "Nico is right, it's different than a 'quest for glory', or whatever you guys do normally. This involves _our_ bad guy, who's trying to conquer the world using _your_ bad guys, which is about the worst combination ever created."

"And," Nico said after a while, "wizards are a force to be reckoned with. They're not just people with magical wooden sticks shouting in Latin."

Fred waved his wand around. "Gee, thanks."

Nico, understandably, ignored that. "One of them defied _Thanatos_ , Will. When he was a _baby_."

Once upon a time Ginny had been blessed enough to be clueless about the name ' _Thanatos_ '. She certainly would've been happier not knowing that Nico was talking about an all-powerful god who took people to the Underworld when he thought they were ready to die.

(She even knew what the Underworld was. A few more days, and she would be as knowledgeable in Greek Mythology as Hermione was in… well, everything.)

Will seemed to have turned slightly green, and he looked at the Weasleys fearfully. "Wait – for real?" He turned to Nico again. "You're joking."

Nico raised an eyebrow. "I'm really not a funny guy."

"He's right, he's not." Ginny chirped, and put up her hands quickly when Nico – and strangely, Will too – glared at her. "In the best way!"

"Funny guy or not," Will said after a while of silence, "you've got to be joking. Nobody ever defied Thanatos, and lived long enough to tell the tale. How do you even do such a thing without a scratch?"

"Technically," Ginny said carefully, "he _did_ get a scratch. A scar."

"A scar." Will repeated, slowly. "By defying _death_ , you get a scar."

"Yeah." Fred made a gesture with his hands, and then pointed at his forehead. "A scar shaped like _lightning._ "

"Lightning? What are you – oh." It was as if someone had just turned a Lumos in Will's mind, and his eyes widened comically. Ginny almost felt bad for him. " _No_. No. This – _Harry_ – you – this can't -"

Nico awkwardly patted Will on his shoulder using the flat side of his black sword – Ginny had to admire Will's courage, for he hadn't flinched away when Nico did. "I know. It sort of crushes everything you believe in, doesn't it?"

"But Nico…" Will looked at him in pain, as if somebody had yanked away the floor beneath his feet. "How couldn't you have noticed? I mean, you're the son of –"

"I know." Nico snapped, eyes scooting over to the Weasleys. "I did feel something was up with him, but I just thought that was because he wasn't a demigod. After Ginevra –"

"For Merlin's sake, it's _Ginny._ "

"- told me about what Harry did when he was a baby… it explained a lot. Why Harry felt so cold, why it sometimes felt as if nobody was standing where he stood. I mean, you remember when he ran into me in the woods –"

For the first time a hint of a smile returned to Will's face. "Oh, I remember."

 _Was Nico blushing?_ Ginny wondered, narrowing her eyes.

"Anyway," Nico cleared his throat, "being near him had felt… wrong. As if the air had grown colder, and more sharper. It wasn't until today that I realized _why_. Harry… he should be dead."

 _-xxx-_

"What do you mean? Is Harry going to die?" Ron asked for the thousandth time, and for the thousandth time, the nymph ignore him as if he was an annoying breeze.

Instead of answering Ron's pleads – or Hermione's, for that matter – she had started rambling about all the kinds of creatures she'd heard her friend 'Oaky' had seen, of the cloaked strangers with the wooden sticks, " _who can even conjure a fire out of nothing! It's magical, I tell you_!", and the monsters her friend had seen patrolling the woods.

"- and Oaky also said there were empousai there, can you even imagine? They had waited two years before joining the last war, and they signed up straight away for this one, and if that isn't telling I don't know what is –"

On a happier day, Harry wouldn't have known what empousai were. Now, however, he was saddened to admit he knew they were vampire-like creatures (and they had almost succeeded in abducting Hermione, too.)

Ron, meanwhile, was still plowing on with his demands. "- can't just say something like that and move on, c'mon, you tree-woman must know something or you wouldn't have said it like that. Did you hear something? Was someone threatening Harry? Who could've –"

"- and then she told me how the nose-less guy just kept on hissing at this big snake of his, sort of like a secret language –"

Having a nymph you've never met stare at you as if she knows you're going to die isn't all that pleasant, but somehow, that statement was way worse.

Because what other wizard could speak to snakes, other than himself and Voldemort?

"Wait," Harry said, and for a strange reason both Ron and the nymph stopped talking. "Back up. Did you just say that wizard could talk to _snakes_?"

"I don't know anything about a wizard, Harry Potter," she said solemnly, "but Oaky was sure the snake was 'talking' back."

Harry's gaze crossed Hermione's, and Ron visibly paled. "And where does Oaky live again?"

"Colorado."

Percy, sensing this was important, cleared his throat. "Last time I checked, Colorado was pretty big. I'm guessing Oaky isn't."

The nymph chirped with laughter. "She wishes she was! She's been trying to grow for years, but she can't seemed to get over five feet, which is hilarious, seeing as her kind –"

"So," Harry interrupted impatiently, "where in Colorado would we find your friend Oaky?"

"In the forest. Duh."

"Okay," Ron said with a roll of his eyes, "Even I could've said as much."

"Which is probably saying much." The nymph said with a little smirk.

Harry didn't particularly like her – okay, he disliked her loads, the way she was insulting Ron's intelligence constantly just because he hit one of her branches – but he kind of needed her to like _him_. "We need a more specific location than that."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, yeah? Well, I'm not giving away her location to some strangers. I'm not stupid."

Grover suddenly yelped, as if someone had trotted on his foot. (And, judging by Annabeth's slight smirk, someone had.)

"Grover!" The nymph jumped immediately to his side, her face one of concern. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself? Do you need any assistance?"

His cheeks were redder than Ron's hair – which was saying something. "No, I'm –" Annabeth nudged him again, and he coughed. "I mean, yes. Yes, I am in need of assistance."

Harry fought the urge to laugh when he saw the nymphs face turn into one of absolute glee – positively giddy of the prospect of helping Grover. Maybe finding Voldemort and his newly found minions of the Greek ancient world would be simpler than he'd thought.

"Oh, anything, Grover Underwood, anything at all!"

"Well," Grover began carefully, "we kind of need to meet your friend, Oaky. And…" He turned his head to Percy, who was nodding his head fretfully, "we need to meet her as soon as possible."

She looked torn, obviously wanting to make sure her friend wasn't pestered by unwelcome strangers, while at the same time desperate to help out Grover. "Fine," She said at last, and pointed her finger at Grover accusingly when he'd started cheering. "But on one condition."

"Sure," Grover breathed.

"The redhead should apologize to my tree."

Ron blinked.

Then blinked again.

(Hermione, meanwhile, had doubled over laughing.)

"I'm not apologizing to a tree," he spluttered finally. "I apologized to you already, why should I say 'sorry' to an immobile wooden plant, too –"

"Ron, do you want to finish this quest and save the world, or not?" Asked Annabeth, tilting her eyebrow slightly.

"Of course I do!"

Annabeth pointed at the tree. "Then apologize to the tree."

Ron spluttered, turned red, turned his head to look at Harry for any kind of back-up – found none – turned around again, sighed, and finally said in a defeated tone with a nod towards the tree; "I'm sorry."

The nymph clapped her hands and turned to Grover with a big and goofy smile. "N39 59.845 W105 17.572, that's where you'll find her. Good luck persuading her to come out of her shell, though – she's lots shyer than I am." And before anyone could move a muscle she kissed Grover on his cheek, and disappeared into thin air – though Harry could've sworn he saw her tree vibrate when she did so.

"Okay," Percy said after a while, "I'm guessing I shouldn't tell Juniper about that last bit?"

Grover was blushing from head to toe. "Please."

Annabeth stared at Grover, a torn expression on her face. It was the same one Harry had seen when she had told him they had officially started their quest – a face that had a clear warning of 'run!' hanging from it, for something horrific was about to take place. "Perce…"

"Yeah?"

"Colorado. It's pretty far away."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not stupid."

"Well…" Grover said teasingly, and grinned when Percy stuck out his tongue at him.

Annabeth, however, ignored them. "How are we going to get there? Safely? Our numbers are too great to travel around quickly and unnoticed…"

"We're with a big group!" Ron complained. "We're with two demi-gods, two wizards, a witch and a satyr! We're powerful people! There's safety in numbers, everyone knows this."

"There's also death in numbers," Percy kindly pointed out, "it's called a massacre."

Ron was kind enough to flip him the finger.

"We could fly?" Hermione offered. "I have muggle money with me, and buying some tickets in the most nearby town shouldn't be that difficult –"

"No!" Shouted both Harry and Percy at the same time, though for different reasons. They stared at each other for a few moments, until Harry opened his mouth first. "I'm _not_ getting into an airplane again if I can help it. They scare the crap out of me."

Percy cleared his throat. "That's a good enough reason," he said, pointing at the sky with a solemn expression on his features, "But mine's worse. I literally _can't_ fly. My uncle sort of blasts me out of the sky with fire-bolts if I do."

How Percy could say something like that so easily – as if stating he was allergic to peanuts – was a miracle to Harry. Then again, it wasn't as if Harry had never done a similar thing. "Right." Harry said in a low voice, and he cleared his throat. "No planes, then."

And now it became obvious why Annabeth had been in distress. North America was pretty big. Colorado was pretty far away from New York, too – and especially for their group, with monsters attacking them every few minutes. They hadn't even reached the end of the woods of Camp Half-Blood yet and a whole day had almost passed, no way that they were going to get to Colorado in time at this rate.

"Train?" Grover suggested.

"No, we're too much a target that way," Percy said quickly, "We tried that five years ago and we all know what happened."

"No, we don't, actually," muttered Ron, but was ignored.

"The taxi?"

"C'mon, Grover, you've been travelling with demigods longer than I have, you _know_ –"

Grover threw his hands in the air. "Do _you_ have some amazing solution, then? We can't travel by plane, not by bus, nor by train, and certainly not by foot! What are going to do, transport ourselves in a magical way?"

For a few second all they could hear was a soft chirping of a bird and the whistling of a wind. Then, as if they'd all rehearsed it, Annabeth, Percy and Grover turned around and faced Harry as if they just realized he was there.

 _Oh, oh._ He instantly raised his hands in defeat.

" _Harry_ ," Annabeth breathed, smiling from ear to ear, "You must have some spell to –"

"Nope." Hermione answered quicker than Harry had time to open his mouth. "Wizards can apparate – disappear in one place and appear in another – but that's a seven year spell.. For adults. Which we're not."

"Oh." Annabeth's face fell. "There goes that idea."

"Annabeth," Percy said suddenly, and he turned to his girlfriend. "I have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

"I don't care if she's going to like it or not," Ron admitted, "if it gets us to Colorado, I'm happy."

Annabeth had knotted her eyebrows together. "Am I going to have to sit down for this?"

"Maybe." Percy cleared his throat, and looked to Harry for rescue – which was dumb, because he had no idea what his look-a-like was about to suggest. "Do you think the labyrinth is still active?"

Annabeth's eyes – always cold and calculating – suddenly widened in shock and fear before they hardened. "No. Absolutely not. No way."

"No, as in, _it's disappeared_ , or as in, _no way that I'm going down there_?"

Annabeth crossed her arms. "The latter. Both. I don't know. Percy, this is a _really_ bad idea. The labyrinth is the most dangerous road we can take, we would be safer traveling by plane, which is saying something!"

"But," Percy smirked, "it's the quickest."

She groaned. "We'll be sitting ducks down there!"

"We'll be sitting ducks everywhere, according to you," Harry began carefully, "so why indeed not go with the quickest?"

Annabeth shook her head solemnly. "You've never been down the labyrinth, Harry. It's dangerous. It's traitorous, it's designed to confuse and trap you. It's a maze where time quickens, full of monsters and gods and tricks. So, yes, it's the quickest, but…" Her voice faltered.

Something in Harry's stomach suddenly felt cold. He hated mazes – his last experience with one, anyway, hadn't been all that great. He didn't like knowing that at the end this one, Voldemort was waiting for him again. Just like the last time. (Though this time he'd be prepared, that should be something.)

"I'm familiar with mazes," Harry said finally, and ignored Hermione and Ron sharing a knowing look of concern. "And I know they can be… difficult. However, we need to get to Colorado, and if Percy thinks this is the best way, I'm in."

Percy smiled at him, and Harry smiled back.

"Fine," Annabeth groaned, and pointed her dagger at them both. " _Fine_! On your heads be it then, if we can't find a way out again!"

Both Percy and Harry held up their hands in defeat. "Fine!"

"Fine." Annabeth grumbled, pointed the dagger more forcefully – which made both the boys jump away – before abruptly turning around and stomping away, muttering under her breath.

Ron stared at her for a few seconds before he started beaming like an idiot.

And Hermione looked at him as if he were just that. "What?"

"What, _what_?"

"What are you so happy about? We're about to enter a deadly maze to end up at Voldemort's lair, this is no smiling matter, Ronald."

"True enough," He admitted, before following Annabeth. "But you have to look at the bright side of all this. At least we'll be rid of all these sodding trees."

And he slammed on the next tree they passed for good measure, still smiling.

(That smile faded quickly, though, when a small branch fell on his head, with the nymph's cackling in the background.)

 **X**

 **(Even if you're mad at me for not updating for so long – please review and let me know what you thought!)**

 **I can't keep pressing enough how sorry I am about the absence. I know I should probably explain why it's taken me this long to come back to fanfiction, but frankly, I don't think I should waste all your time. Let's just say it's a long and stupid story, and that I still love you guys very much and won't stop writing this story until it's done and perfect and finished.**

 **At least I finally decided on the plotline – and I've finally figured out the ending! So don't worry, it'll probably be written faster next time. (Though I won't be making any promises this time, I hate breaking them.)**

 **I can promise this, though, for the next chapter:**

 ** _FIGHTING SCENES. KISSING. Hah._**

 **For the anonymous reviewers:**

Lyssa / Crimsoncat9: Good that you're on edge! And don't worry, I often am just as lazy as you are when I review people, haha! (And of course I reply to people, it's the least I can do for people who make my day so much better.)

ArtemisDaughter: You're literally the sweetest! Thank you for your trust in me, I hope I won't let you down! Just keep in mind that I adore all these characters, and I'll treat them gently before giving them back to their original creators. I won't try to hurt them. (On purpose.) As for your questions; I honestly wouldn't know who my Olympian parent would be… I think Apollo, because I have this weird obsession with music and writing and poetry – in case you couldn't tell from the amount of words I write for fun and free – and I too have a ridiculous kind of adoration for stupid puns. Though I'm not as light-headed as Apollo is in the books, nor as mischievous and funny. According to 'the' Olympian parental quiz – which you should totally take – I'm a huntress of Artemis, which fits to my feminist side… (Go Ginny! Go Annabeth! Go Hermione! _Girlpower_!) Pity we'll never know. As for your other question; no, I won't have Harry fight with only his sword. Don't worry, his wand will have a pretty big role in the story – as you will see next chapter! Thank you again for your lovely review, and don't ever worry about boring me with its length, I simply live for long reviews!

Gerda Willows: Sure. :)


	19. Hold on for Deer Life

**A/N:** I've got exam week, which should mean I have no time to write – since I've got to study and all that nonsense. Strangely, though, I always find myself updating more often this time o' year… Very, _very_ strange, indeed.

 **xx**

 **Chapter 19**

 **Hold on for deer life**

If you'd ask Harry honestly about what he thought of the labyrinth, you would've advised him to wash his mouth with soap afterwards – obviously appalled by his frankly disgusting language.

Though, he'd tell you after you suggested that, you really should've seen it coming.

For the labyrinth was by _far_ the most confusing place he'd ever been. One minute they were walking through a seemingly innocent corridor – one strangely similar to one at Hogwarts from the third floor – and the next they were balancing theirselves on a thin rope, stretched out across a dark abyss.

Time seemed to stand still, with the windless air and odorless scent, but at the same time Harry had a weird feeling that they had been walking down in the labyrinth for centuries. That when they would resurface again, everyone he knew now would be gone. (One positive outcome of that pessimistic thought, though – at least he wouldn't have to fight their war anymore.)

"Okay," Ron said after a while, his eyes searching the next corridor frantically. "I take it back, I want to take the long but _normal_ road instead."

Ron looked exhausted. (To be honest, they all did.) His skin was pale to the point of ill-looking, and his pupils were blown-wide in fear. He was clutching his sword in one hand and his wand in the other, so vigilant Moody would've approved. His joking pretense had gone, too, and Hermione kept checking Ron every few seconds as if to make sure he wouldn't collapse. The labyrinth's madness was taking a toll on everyone, but it almost seemed as if Ron was having the worst of it.

"I'm serious," he continued, groaning when he saw that the next and ridiculously long hallway looked just like a dark prehistoric cave, "how in the name of Merlin's soggy –"

"Ronald!" Hermione hissed.

"- _underpants,"_ he emphasized for good measure, making Hermione roll her eyes and Harry laugh, "did you guys get out of this the last time you were here?"

Annabeth sighed and answered Ron without turning to look behind her. (She was leading them all, the only one confidently walking through the maze as if she knew what she was doing.) "Technically, we didn't. This labyrinth was built by the famous demigod Daedalus –"

"Oh!" Hermione grinned, her teeth flashing in the dark. "I know him! He's the one who designed the maze to trap the Minotaur!"

Harry didn't even needed to see Annabeth's face to know she was rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Yes," she said impatiently, "but before you continue to blurt out monsters' names, know they have power." Hermione almost sighed. "Anyway, _yes_ , he designed that maze. Not for fun, though. He was a captive of a king, called Midas –"

"- which is a _fascinating_ story," Percy quickly interrupted, "but I don't think they want to hear the whole thing, Wise Girl."

Percy was walking right beside Harry – directly behind Ron and Hermione – and he looked far too cheery if you'd ask Harry, as if they were strolling around the beach instead of this deadly maze. When Annabeth turned around, however, with her expression one of murderous annoyance, Percy slightly paled.

"I think they can speak for themselves!" Annabeth almost hissed.

"Yeah," Hermione chirped in a soft voice, "I want to hear the whole thing."

Percy held up both his hands in defeat. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

And then Annabeth started talking.

No offense to the daughter of Athena – she could tell stories really well, and her passion about it was apparent in her agitated movements and tone of voice – but Harry felt himself drift off not even after she'd finished her first sentence. He'd never been a huge fan of History of Magic, and concentrating when someone was droning on about a story had always been difficult, especially since he hadn't been able to sleep for twenty-three hours straight.

He wasn't the only one, though. He saw Percy jumping from one foot to the other in an irregular rhythm – as if he was listening to some song in his head – mouthing to the lyrics. Grover was obviously trying to appear as if he was listening, but Harry could see his eyes glazing over from the effort.

Instead of trying to listen he let his mind wander, trying to make sense of everything that happened. He was so tired, but Annabeth had warned them all that trying to sleep in a place like this was dangerous. Still, they could've at least _tried_ to rest for a while until they'd jumped down the hole into the labyrinth without a second thought. (Though, Harry had to admit, they'd all been far too happy to have found an entrance to the labyrinth at all, so distracted with their giddiness to think about something as vital as sleep.)

But whining about his tiredness wasn't going to help anyone. (And he knew he wasn't the only one, too. Ron had such dark circles underneath his eyes that they could be seen from space, and even Hermione was yawning every now and then. Percy was also tired, but then again, that guy was _always_ tired.)

Harry's eyes traveled from his feet stumbling over the uneven floor, embedded with rocks, to Percy's face. The guy was staring straight ahead with an impassive look on his face. He looked normal. Okay, maybe a bit more handsome than your average teenager, but that must be his godly side. He had a straight nose, eyes like any other – except the color, which seemed to be changing constantly from one shade of green to the next – and even his mouth seemed human. He was lean, skinny though muscled, and his hair had an odd glance over it, as if he hadn't washed it in days. Everything he was suggested his was just a tired teenager... except the weird feeling Harry got deep in his stomach he got every time he looked at him.

Maybe it was his Achilles and invincible side, but the guy vibrated something ancient.

Percy, as if sensing someone was staring at him, suddenly turned to look back at Harry. Instead of glaring, he just cocked his eyebrow.

Harry shrugged.

This wasn't the first time that he'd tried to analyze Percy by staring at him – nor was it the first time Percy had noticed and redone the favor. (Harry wasn't stupid. He'd seen the other guy staring at him when he thought Harry wasn't looking.) But for the first time Percy reacted by grabbed Harry by his arm and pulling him backward, away from Annabeth and the rest of the group.

Percy was skinny. Sure. But, judging by the tight grip the guy had on Harry's arm, he was strong enough to snap it in two if he wanted to.

When the group had walked away far enough to be out of hearing-range, he let go. "What d'you want to know?" Percy whispered.

Harry knitted his eyebrows. _Everything._ "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Percy kept toying with his pen – okay, sorry, his _sword –_ throwing it constantly from one hand to the other, fidgeting with it as if he was nervous. And, if Harry didn't know any better, Percy was indeed that. "I know you're curious. You haven't asked a lot of questions, which I would've done, so I guess you either don't want to ask or are scared to?"

Harry huffed. "I'm really not scared of you."

Which was only a _tiny_ lie.

Percy's mouth quirked upwards. "Good. Then why aren't you curious?"

"Merlin," Harry sighed. "I am. Believe me, I've never been this curious in my life. But I'm also tired. I have a headache. There's only so much information my brain can take without imploding."

Percy snorted. "Annabeth is the exact opposite. You do not _want_ to be around her when she feel like her day has been unproductive in the learning-new-stuff department. Once she managed to actually knock me unconscious when she was complaining about it." The way he spoke about it, as if getting knocked unconscious was the most romantic and wonderful thing that could've happened to him.

"Isn't she your girlfriend?"

As if magic, Percy's eyes glistened over, and his smile broadened. "Yeah." He sighed absently, "yeah, she is."

It must be true love then, Harry decided, following Percy's gaze to Annabeth – who was still talking about Daedalus' numerous inventions throughout the years. Percy was staring at Annabeth as if she was his everything, no matter his complaints and jokes with her, and that was not something Harry had seen that often in his life. (And if he was being completely honest, that kind of adoration only existed in fairy tales.) "How did that happen?"

"What'd you mean?"

He hadn't meant to say that out loud, but it was too late to take it back now. Harry gestured aimlessly with his hands. "Annabeth is... well, _Annabeth_. Stoic. Strategic. To be honest, kind of frightening, too. You're different."

Percy didn't appear to be offended – on the contrary, he looked intrigued. "In what way?"

"Well, you're a lot more laid-back than she is, not counting your hostility when I stumbled into camp."

Percy laughed. "Sorry about that. Again."

"No need to apologize."

"It's a habit."

They locked gazes, before quickly looking away again.

(Maybe they were alike in different things than just looks, Harry thought, ignoring the tension building in his stomach. Because something told him that Percy was just as compulsive at saying sorry as he was with things that weren't really his fault to begin with.)

"Anyway," Harry said lightly, and Percy shot him a thankful look for changing the subject, "you and Annabeth are different in every way. You don't even _look_ alike."

Percy pulled a face. "Thank the gods for that – that'd be gross."

"But she's, technically, related to you?"

If Percy could've pulled an even more disgusted face, he would've. "Technically... yes. Her mother is my father's niece – since she's claimed as Zeus' daughter and all that – but the gods don't have DNA. I mean," he eyed Annabeth warily, "everyone sort of _knows_ they don't. Sisters married brothers in the Olympian family and no one batted an eye."

"Gross."

Percy chuckled. "Yeah, it is, but I've trained myself not to think about it. Annabeth and I, we're not related by blood, so we can date. It's sort of an unspoken rule in our world. Demigods can date, as long as they don't have the same mom or dad. And about your earlier statement about us being so different... you're right. She couldn't possibly be more different than I am. She's proud, confident, smart - beautiful."

Harry knitted his eyebrows. For a second it sounded like Percy thought he was none of those things – while Harry knew, even if he'd only met Percy two days ago, that he was _all_ of those things instead.

"She's not like anyone else," Percy continued after a while, sheepishly smiling at Harry, silently apologizing for drifting off. "And I adore her for it. I mean, I wouldn't want to date a perfect copy of myself, would I?"

That made Harry laugh – for a second envisioning _them_ to date before deciding that thought was simply too ridiculous. "Still. It's as if you're saying that... I don't know, _Ron and Hermione_ would date in a few years. They drive each other crazy by being complete opposites, always fighting..."

Percy just shrugged. "We fight all the time, too. But she's my best friend, she knows me so well and no one knows me like she does, and that weighs out pretty much everything."

Harry tried to picture Ron and Hermione dating. For a second or two it was odd – as if seeing a brother and sister make out – but then he suddenly remembered all the other stuff that'd happened, too. The way Ron was always flustered whenever Hermione came close, how it was Ron comforting Hermione rather than anyone else.

Harry sighed deeply, rubbing his fringe away from his face. He didn't want to think about his friends fighting, but envisioning them making out was even more nauseating. (Though that related more to his allergy to couples than to them personally.) "When did you two start to date?"

If Harry didn't know any better, it looked as if Percy was blushing. "Three weeks ago, on my sixteenth birthday."

"Oh." Harry blinked. "My birthday was _five_ weeks ago. And I'm fifteen. We're not twins, after all."

Percy barked a surprised laugh, which echoed across the cave. "Don't be ridiculous, Potter, don't tell me you ever _really_ thought we were –"

 _"_ _Harry Potter."_

"Yes?" Harry said, interrupting Percy and turning to look at the group before them. When no one answered, he shouted: "Someone called?"

None of them turned around, however, obviously too far away to have heard him.

Percy turned to him. "Nobody said anything, Harry. What are you –" suddenly he gasped, and he turned his head. "Wait, did you hear that?"

"Heard what?"

"I could've sworn my mom –"

 _"_ _Harry Potter."_

Harry jumped again, this time sure someone said his voice. And he recognized that voice, too, and that didn't particularly make him happy. "Sirius?"

"Yes," Percy said impatiently, "I am serious."

He groaned. "That's not what I –"

Percy jumped, grabbing Harry's arm tightly. "There! She said my name again! But how can my _mom_ be here?"

Harry's insides felt like ice. "Um, Perce?"

"Hmm?" The boy wasn't even looking at Harry – his gaze was one of total disbelief and if Harry didn't know any better, _hope._

"Annabeth," Harry began slowly, "she said this maze is designed to trap you, and lure you, right? Full of... monsters?"

Percy shook his head, not willing to believe his mom wasn't here with them. "Yes, but that _really_ sounded like her..."

"And that voice also sounded like Sirius, but that doesn't mean it's them." Without waiting for Percy to finally catch on, he grasped his wand in one hand and his sword in the other. He knew for certain that however badly he wanted his godfather to be here to help them, he knew that there was little to no chance that Sirius just _happened_ to stroll around the labyrinth alongside Percy's mom.

He crossed glances with Percy, and finally, Percy accepted that his mom wasn't here. He uncapped his sword with a solemn expression, his mouth turned up in a snarl. Riptide and the falchion were both glowing in the dark, illuminating their focused faces, and Harry could see Percy's eyes searching around frantically.

" _Harry Potter."_

The voice sounded, now Harry knew it couldn't have been Sirius, so very sad. It sounded as if Sirius was on the verge of crying, desperate for Harry to get to him before something terrible was about to happen, and no matter how determined Harry was that this couldn't be real, he still felt conflicted about standing there instead of running to Sirius' aid.

And judging by Percy's torn expression he felt about the same.

"You hear it becoming louder, too, right?" Percy whispered.

Harry nodded slowly. "I-"

" _Harry Potter."_

It felt like a punch in the gut.

"Okay," Harry said with a hollow laugh, "It's _definitely_ getting closer."

The rest of the group had nearly reached the end of the hallway. Just a few moments more and they would be out of eyesight, too – and knowing this maze, they might transport themselves somewhere where they couldn't turn back and help them with whoever was calling out their names.

Next to him it seemed as if Percy was trying to solve a very difficult algorithm, his eyebrows knitted together and his eyes half-closed. "Why don't I ever pay attention whenever Annabeth's talking?" he finally muttered, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. "I'm sure she once mentioned a monster that draws men closer by calling out their names by stealing voices... If I only remembered..."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened, his heart in pulsing rapidly in his throat. "Um, Percy?"

Percy, however, had put his head in his hands in frustration, and was still muttering to himself, ignoring Harry. "It's not a Cyclops, they don't just whisper names... I'm sure it was something with a C... and it was definitely a _big_ monster..."

Harry's throat felt dry. "Animalistic cross-breeding?"

"Yes!" Came the muffled reply. "It had something to do with antlers..."

"A body of a deer, and the head of a lion?"

Percy's head shot up to Harry's in confusion. "Yes! How did you –"

Harry just pointed. His hands were shaking.

Percy's gaze followed his, and he froze, too.

Because not very far away a huge monster had blocked their path, obscuring their vision of the rest of the group. (And Harry was praying to every religion he knew that they were far, far away from here.) The ' _monster_ ' did indeed have the body of a deer – but not one you'd usually find in the woods. Its legs were thicker than both Percy and Harry were together, and his chest was big enough for both of them to lie in comfortably. His head was a lion's one, with a huge mane glistening in the dark, and its yellowish cat-eyes were glowing in the dark.

When the monster saw that he had both their attention, he grinned his teeth bare.

But they weren't your usual teeth, Harry realized with a sickening feeling. It was a sharp, bony ridges, surely designed to rip them apart faster than they could blink.

"Um," Percy said intelligently, shuffling closer to Harry. "Hi, there. We come in peace–"

But before he could finish his sentence – really, who would try and talk to a massive beast like that other than Percy? – the monster cackled, and charged.

Harry cursed a not-so decent f-word. "How are we going to –"

"By improvising!" Percy shouted, his left-hand balled and his other clenching onto his sword. "On my mark, charge!"

 _"_ _Charge?"_ Harry asked, his voice a lot more higher than usually. "He's charging _us_ , you idiot, in case you hadn't –"

 _"_ _Now!"_

And what else could Harry do, but obey?

Just as the monster was about to hit them they both jumped to the side, the cloven hooves barely missing Harry's chest, and simultaneously they thrust forward with their blades.

Until now, Harry'd had inexplicable luck when it came to fighting monsters in this world. He'd defeated the smoke army with two spells, the smoke warrior with one stab, and Echidna with a fight that barely lasted three minutes.

So when his blade bounced off the monster's side without making even a little scratch, he couldn't help but be more disappointed than afraid.

The monster barreled past, groaned, turned, and charged them again, this time with his eyes locked in a gaze that could only be described as ' _to kill'_.

Without any time to talk or make a better plan, Harry prepared himself to jump to the side of the cave again.

Percy, however, had different ideas.

Instead of waiting around until it had reached them again he cried a foreign word – had that been _Latin_? – and started running towards it, his blade set on the monster's chest.

" _Percy!_ " Harry yelled, his eyes widening.

That monster was at least five times the size of Percy, the boy was never going to survive barreling into it like that!

But before any impact could be made Percy slipped deliberately, gliding underneath the massive body of the monster – its hooves came so close to Percy's face that Harry held his breath – and he thrust his sword upwards quickly, obviously with the idea that the monster's belly would be more vulnerable than his side had been.

Percy scrambled upright again when the monster had run past, heaving with fatigue. "Did it work?"

Harry, however, did not have time to answer.

The monster came running towards him with such determination that it seemed as if the stabbing of Riptide had been a mere brush of a feather – and for a second Harry felt himself freeze. At Percy's ' _Look out!_ ' he jolted into action, jumping _from_ the wall instead of towards it, lifting himself up in the air, barely missing the monster's head snapping towards him.

He'd hoped he'd jumped high enough to be able to jump on the monster's back, but instead he'd launched himself towards the other side of the cave, slamming into the wall with such an impact he felt his teeth rattle.

"Harry, you okay?" Percy's cry came desperate.

Harry groaned, pushing himself up. His glasses were broken, his head was pounding and everything seemed a blurred mess. "Fine!"

Percy was suddenly next to him, pulling him upright. "Sorry about that move, it worked a few weeks ago on this giant crab –"

"Yeah, well," Harry heaved, trying to smile. "This isn't a crab."

"Obviously."

They stared at each other, before both bursting into nervous laughter. It wasn't even funny, not in the slightest, but Harry felt like laughing anyway. (Maybe he'd bumped his head harder than he'd thought.)

"I have an idea," Harry said suddenly, looking at the monster turning around again, "lift me up and throw me when I say 'now'."

"Why –"

"There's no time, just do it."

Percy quickly held out his hands, and Harry stepped on them – muttering ' _sorry, so sorry'_ the entire time – and grabbed his wand and falchion a little tighter. The monster, meanwhile, was barreling closer, the entire hallway shaking with its impact. "Okay," Harry muttered, waiting for the perfect moment. "Okay, okay, okay... _now_!"

Percy immediately threw up his hands, at the same time Harry jumped.

This time, with Percy's unbelievable strength and Harry's determination, he finally got the boost he needed to land on the monster's back. He let his sword fall to be able to grab the monster's manes, and he hold onto dear life.

"Yeah!" Percy cheered, his teeth flashing in the dark. "Now stab him!"

"With _what_?" Harry yelled, his knuckles white from the effort of holding on. The monster wasn't happy to have Harry on its back, not happy at all – judging by the wild and frantic moves it was making to get Harry off. He couldn't grab his tiny dagger strapped to his ankle, and he couldn't very well stab this monster with his wand...

Harry's eyes suddenly widened.

His _wand._

Of course!

How could he have forgotten that he was a _wizard_?

"Percy!" He yelled, aiming the wand at the ground beneath the monster, "freeze it!"

"Freeze _what_?"

 _"Aquamenti!"_

X

 **End chapter.**

 **On advice of our dear Stella, I ended the chapter here. This means that my promise of a kissing incident, well, that's just moved up one chapter. (I'm** ** _sure_** **you guys'll survive.)**

 **Beautiful quote from the BETA herself; "** Harry is an idiot. Like, the spell he thought most useful to defeat a monster? Aquamenti. Fucking aquamenti" **(Sorry, but this just made me laugh like crazy, and I thought I'd just add it.)**

 **SO. Quick question.** I can see how many readers there are in which country, but I'm not sure they're accurate. (Like, this story is weirdly popular in Japan? Why?) Where do you guys come from? (Oh – and what's your Hogwarts House? 4/5 people I've asked so far were all Slytherins, so I wonder if that's also a weird requirement for my readers or something? Sigh, idk. I'm just rambling.

 **Don't forget to review! (Pls.)**

 **For you shy people who refuse to make an account:**

 _Lyssa:_ _*smiles*_

 _Guest:_ _Wow! Thank you! That's so sweet._


	20. Wisdom's Loss

**a/n:** Hello! Sorry about the long wait dears, trying to graduate is apparently more time-demanding than my regular homework was (probably because I can't really postpone these exams, hah) so I didn't really have time to write. (And for some reason my brain just didn't want to give me the goods, it was like I'd forgotten how to write at all? So if the chapter's crap, blame that.)

Three things before I start off this chapter.

Congratulations to the wonderful Moony - a.k.a. _StellaTheReviewer_ \- for being the 300th reviewer! (three hundred? I really don't deserve all this love you guys!)

Check out the wonderful _Alealea_ 's profile - she has translated this story to German! To _German_! In her free time, for free!  What!

I really want to thank you all for the _massive responses_ (like - wow, so many, I really don't deserve it but wow wow thank you!) on my questions of the latest chapter, but more on that after this chapter!

Enjoy. (Oh, and this chapter has multiple POV's!)

* * *

 **Chapter 20**

 **Wisdom's Loss**

When Harry Potter had been a little boy, he'd always tried to imagine what it would be like to go ice-skating with his made-up friends.

He'd imagined the huge frozen lake, the red and brown sweaters, the hair of everyone involved coated with a thin layer of snow. He'd pictured the puffy red cheeks, the giggles, and mostly, the bruises of everyone on their backs and arms and legs from falling over from laughing too many times.

Ice-skating through a narrow cave, on the back of a monster – whom he later came to know as a _Cynolycus_ who devoured men as a sport – with his arms tightly wrapped around its neck as if his life depended on it, however, wasn't quite what he'd had in mind.

 _"_ _Aaaarghh!"_

The monster was racing over the ice with the speed of a massive deer – well, it had the body for it anyway – and the strength of the biggest bull on earth.

Harry was praying to every Greek god he knew that its cloven hooves were going to slip soon, before they hit anything – and more importantly, before it would realize that Harry was still hanging onto its neck.

"Harry!" came a shout from somewhere behind them, "you have to jump off!"

All Harry could reply was another shout when his head narrowly missed the top of the cave. Again.

"I'm gonna count to three!" Percy's voice sounded closer, but still too far away and too slow to catch up with them. The monster underneath Harry wasn't slowing down – if anything, it was speeding up in its worry of slipping. It must _really_ hate ice. "One, two –"

The monster's back legs suddenly slipped, and for a second Harry thought they were both going to flip, turn, and fall – with Harry crushed between the monster and the ground. Seconds later the monster instead pulled itself upright with a sickening _clash_ of its hooves smacking on the ice, and with a groan it shot forward again as if nothing had happened.

" _Percy_ –" Harry yelled, his arms straining from the effort to hold on. "just do it!"

"Ah, to Hades with it!" The son of Poseidon hollered with every ounce of breath he had left in his lungs, and he screeched: " _Jump,_ Harry!"

Harry wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing.

With an amount of bravery he hadn't known he had until that moment he let go of the monster, trying not to scream too much like a schoolgirl when he felt himself flying backwards with the force as if launched by a catapult.

He closed his eyes, expecting any second now to feel his head splash in a thousand pieces against the sides of the cave. Jumping away from his 'ride' with eighty-hundred miles an hour was bound to have consequences, anyway.

"What the –"

He'd fallen into a huge pile of something white that felt like soft snow, cushioning his fall.

He had not cracked his head open in a thousand pieces against the wall after all.

It had maybe – probably – saved his life.

"Thanks, Perce!" He shouted, grinning from ear to ear, just as the other boy shot past him with a thumbs up and a thin smile on his face.

Harry couldn't do anything else but lie there in the snow, watching with a gobsmacked expression and his heart pounding in his chest when Percy stopped running and lifted his arms as if wanting to hug the monster.

The ice covering the ground of the cave shot forward, surrounding the monster's cloven hooves within a second, forcing it to an early stop.

The monster whined a low piercing sound that shook Harry to his very bones.

Percy didn't seem phased.

He twisted his right arm, and the snow covering Harry's feet shot towards the monster in front of them, turning into sharp icicles shaped like knives during their flight.

It was obvious what Percy intended to do.

Harry immediately scrambled upright. "Percy!" He yelled, his heart in his throat. " _Wait –"_

Too late. The icicles that had flown through the cold air had arrived at their destination, and the monster groaned a final _grunt_ before it erupted in golden dust.

The silence that followed felt heavier than the fight had done.

The silhouette before Harry that was Percy was suddenly swaying on his feet, his head bobbing from one side to the other.

"Percy," Harry asked carefully, slowly stepping forward. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm," Came as a reply, and Percy waved his hand around as if to reassure him. "'m jus' tired."

Harry was just about to say that it was just the rush of the adrenaline leaving your body, nothing to worry about, when Percy collapsed.

* * *

"Ginny, if you'd just behave like a normal human being we _might_ be able to pull this off."

"Shut up, Fred."

Fred and Ginny were currently hiding in the bushes, spying on the – currently lazy – Greek half-bloods. This was the second time that day that they'd been spying on them, and Ginny felt for a moment as if she was a character in an Auror story, spying on the bad guys. (Though in this current story, the 'bad guys' were a couple of eleven-year-olds playing a card game with a centaur to pass the time.)

They were both wearing an orange shirt with the words 'CAMP HALF-BLOOD' written on it, underneath a heavy breastplate so old it might've fallen apart if it hadn't been for its persistence to keep together. On both their left wrist they had a leather band, protecting them if they wanted to shoot any of the arrows currently residing in a holder on Ginny's lap.

Fred was sitting on his knees, his newly stolen bow stretched and ready to fire, his gaze upon the Big Cabin – or whatever the big wooden cabin was called, anyway. His arrow was buzzing with anticipation – or, if they had to believe Will Solace, buzzing with _music_. Ginny had no idea how music could be a weapon, but according to the blonde boy, they just had to wait – fire, more like – and see.

Ginny, however, was just holding the arrows, trying to decide when was the right time to create the planned diversion. She was watching closely to the relaxed teens sitting on the veranda – or 'porch', whatever – chatting away with the centaur. She couldn't see Nico, nor George or Will, but she knew they were busy sneaking to the armoury, waiting for their chance to steal as much as they could when the diversion was happening.

If only Clarisse would get away from the porch.

"Seriously," Fred sighed. "You're humming."

"I'm not _humming_." Maybe she was. Not that she was going to admit that to her brother, mind.

"You are!" He snorted softly. "That's definitely the French anthem –"

"How do you even _know_ that song –"

"So you do admit you it – you were humming!"

Ginny rolled her eyes, playfully nudged him with her foot – but stopped humming.

It was just hard to hold back her anticipation to finally be able to get out of here. (Even if that meant to stop humming the French Anthem.)

It had taken them three hours to come up with a 'plan' – and that was only _after_ Nico had finally convinced Will that Harry was important enough to break some rules for, _after_ her brothers had had to refrain her from jumping Nico – not that it was her fault, really... it just wasn't nice to hear, that's all, that her major crush was doomed to die (or had already been doomed to die?)

Ginny involuntarily pulled a face.

It was just so bloody confusing, this whole camp, the people, their prophecy – just, well, _everything_.

All the more reason to wreck some hammock and get the hell out of there to find their friends.

"Okay," Ginny whispered, her eyes narrowing when she saw the buffoon-looking girl enter the wooden cabin, "Clarisse's out of sight. Time to go."

Fred tightened his hold on the blue arrow, and narrowed his left eye while closing his left in upper concentration. Ginny had only seen her brother this focused thrice in her life now – once when she had been four and her brothers had schemed together to scar their smallest brother for life by turning his teddy bear into a very real spider, the second time when they conjured a deadly smoke-army, and now, holding a presumably dangerous arrow pointed at 'innocent' kids. She had to use every ounce of willpower she had to refrain herself from running for cover in case it all went wrong. "I suggest you cover your ears," Fred told her gleefully, before letting the arrow go.

For a second nothing happened.

Then the arrow made contact with the ground before the cabin, and the _BOOM_ that followed was so loud and explosive that both Ginny and Fred were rocketed from their hiding spot, flying through the air helplessly until they both crashed with a sickening _crack_ onto one of the cabins behind them.

When Ginny's vision cleared, all she could think of with a humourless laugh was how _on earth_ these kids had not believed in magic before, if this was the kind of weaponry they dealt with.

* * *

"I don't like waiting."

"I know you don't."

"This grass is itching."

"Then sit somewhere else."

"But I can't see properly from over there!"

"Buy glasses, then."

"Merlin," George finally said, eyeing the two boys on his sides warily, "you're worse than Ron and Hermione – and that's saying something."

"Shut up," said both Nico and Will at the same time, and they shared a short laugh before turning serious again.

They were lying on the south side of one of the hills close to the Hephaestus cabin – also known as the weaponry. The boys were dressed as if they were going to war, including black stripes painted on their cheeks. (Except for Nico, he wasn't wearing the orange shirt like the others were, he was just in his usual attire of a black shirt with a white skull on it, and his glowing black blade in his hand.)

George squinted his eyes, trying to see if he could see any commotion starting yet. "When d'you reckon we can go in?"

"When you hear a loud ' _boom_ '," Will suggested cheerfully, grinning from ear to ear. "I only gave them five arrows – since those are the only ones I have in my own cabin, gift from my dad – but I think one arrow should do the trick."

* * *

"I might be stating the obvious here," Ron said dryly, "but we're doomed."

Annabeth wished she could do _anything_ else – tackle the redhead to the ground, smash her dagger into the next wall, scream so loud the gods are forced to come down on earth and face her anger – but she simply had to agree.

Ron was right.

They had been walking in repetitive circles for what felt like hours now, shouting their throats sore trying to find their way back to Harry – and most importantly, Percy. (At least, if you'd ask Annabeth. Not that she would say that out loud, seeing as she didn't _need_ her boyfriend to do anything. Still.. he was her _Seaweed Brain_. Who knew what would happen to him without her there?) But, sadly, the cave in which they had unknowingly left their friends had shut closed behind them, cutting them off effectively – so effectively, that even Hermione's and Ron's destructive spells hadn't worked. If anything, it had just set off more rocks to fall down and clog up the entrance that had already disappeared.

"We're not doomed," Hermione finally said in a shrill voice, "we just need to take a slight... detour."

"Yeah." Ron punched the wall – a wall that seemed to be made out of white marble. He didn't seem to care that hitting it might hurt. "A detour through a labyrinth that makes no bloody sense. We have a better chance of finding our way to the other side of the world than finding Harry – and that's saying something."

And again Annabeth was faced with the improbability of wanting to agree with Ron. (He was, after all, the one who kept angering nymphs and other creatures unknowingly by either smacking them in the face or talking too loudly. Not what you'd say about a bright-minded person.)

"I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel," Hermione suddenly said, pointing forward. It was obvious that she was trying to cheer up Ron – and maybe the rest of the gang, too.

Ron just groaned. "I don't know about muggle phrases, Hermione, but that's not supposed to be a good thing."

"Ha, ha." Hermione's sarcastic laugh echoed through the hallway. "Very funny."

"I know." Ron waved with his arms theatrically. "I am the comic relief, am I not?"

"Ron, that's not what I –"

"Hermione's right!" Annabeth admitted – though this felt easier to do than even thinking Ron might be. "There's definitely an room at the end of the tunnel – or an exit."

"We need neither of those," Grover said softly, "we need to find Percy and Harry."

Annabeth fought the urge to whack him in the head – the last thing they needed was a _Captain Obvious_. (And all it did was made her miss Percy's knack of being that.) "I know that. But for all you know they could be walking around, searching for us, too. I don't fancy going to lit places, either, but – "

And just as she had said those words the walls around her disappeared, and they found themselves in a brightly lit mosaic place, a place where Annabeth absolutely did _not_ want to find herself right now, certainly not without her boyfriend standing beside her.

"Ah, Annabeth!" Said the voice she still had nightmares about, "Pleasure to see you again, you look lovely!"

"Indeed," Said the other cheerfully, "it's positively thrilling to see your beautiful face again, miss!"

Hermione and Ron had been silenced into shock – and nobody could blame them. Because just three feet away from them, standing on the mosaic-embedded floor illustrating a feast of the Roman Gods, was Janus; two-faced god of choices and an absolute pain in the behind. In the one (too short, if you'd ask Annabeth) year since she'd last seen him, he hadn't changed. The two faces emerging from his thick neck were still as ugly and repelling as they had been before, and it took every ounce of rational thought she had to not run away and scream. (Or take her dagger and stick it right between his heads – immortal god or not.)

It wasn't that she _afraid_ of Janus, per say – she wasn't. She just hated the way she had felt the last time she'd been here, and had tried her best to forget about it. Now, however, she was forced to remember, from the sickening cackling of Janus' laugh to the two wooden and locked doors behind him and the reason she'd been so scared the last time.

"Uh, Annabeth," Hermione said in a shrill voice, "the way is shut behind us."

Annabeth didn't bother answering.

Grover cleared his throat. "Ron, Hermione, meet Janus – the two-faced god. One of his heads speaks the truth, the other always lies."

"And you're in for a lot of fun!" The right head cackled, rolling his head around from laughing.

"Now Annabeth, you know what to do – go right this way!" Said the left head.

"No, no, _this_ way," the other one grumbled, suddenly serious. "C'mon miss, take the right door."

"Uh," Ron said intelligently, "so... how do we know which one speaks the truth?"

"You can't!" Spoke both heads at the same time.

Annabeth drew in a sharp breath – suddenly realizing something. If both heads had said that they couldn't find out the truth – both with conviction – that meant that one of them was lying. So they _could_ find out. Maybe it was a riddle, a certain question, or just keeping a clear head whilst listening to them. But whatever it was, she could crack it. She must. She wasn't Athena's daughter for nothing, after all.

"You fought on Kronos' side during the war," Annabeth mused softly, ignoring both Hermione and Ron twisting their heads to look at her in confusion, "how are you not punished by the gods for doing so?"

"Because the gods don't care about us, miss," said the left head.

"Shut up!" said the right one. "They do. They put us back here as a punishment."

"They didn't, we love it here!"

"No, we don't!"

And Annabeth felt like banging her head against the mosaic floor.

* * *

" _Percy_!"

Harry had abandoned all pretence, and was sprinting towards his friend. The raven-haired boy had collapsed where he'd stood, as if his limbs were nothing more than a sack of potatoes, and for a second or two Harry was worried the boy had _died_.

When Harry knelt down next to Percy, however, he saw that the other boy had his eyes open and a small smile on his face. "Nice job, dude," Percy said in a hoarse and tired voice.

Harry's heart leaped, and he grinned. _Thank merlin._ "That's supposed to be my line."

Percy snorted. "I'll hold you to that next time."

That made Harry's head clear again, all joking pretence gone, and he stuck out his hand without further ado. "C'mon, Perce, let's find our friends."

He pouted, his big green eyes suddenly resembling those of a pygmy-puff. (If Harry didn't know any better, Percy's eyes even began to shine.) "Aw, really? Just five more minutes, c'mon."

"I don't know why you're so tired –"

"Achilles' curse." Percy stated dryly.

"- but," Harry went on, "I don't fancy running into another monster right now. Certainly not without our friends there to help us out, and with you almost passing out."

Even Percy had to acknowledge that truth, and finally took Harry's hand – and with great effort he rose, grimacing as he did so. "Holy Herakles," Percy heaved, still not letting go of Harry's hand as an effort not to fall down, "I really, really hate this curse. What is the use of having all this power without having the energy for it?"

"Don't ask me," Harry said, "I'm just the guy with the wooden stick."

That brought a laugh out of Percy – and some colour flooded back to his face. ( _Thank god_ , Harry thought, _Annabeth would've killed me if Percy had left this place with permanent damage_.) "The guys who fight with a wooden stick and a pen," Percy mused, pulling his hand back while straightening his back, "there's bound to be a punchline in there somewhere."

* * *

At this point, Annabeth would've even welcomed a picnic with _Hera_ , just to be done with the most annoying god she'd ever had the misfortune to meet.

Janus' heads had been blabbing for almost an hour now, their voices swelling in volume, almost speeding up at every question she threw at them.

The most frustrating thing was, that however difficult and well-thought question she'd ask, they still managed to make sure that she couldn't know which one of them was lying and which one was. She had asked difficult algorithms, philosophical questions (she was never, ever doing that again, since that had just started the greatest debate between the two, it had taken too long to get them to calm down again) and other impossible questions.

"Annabeth," Ron finally said, realizing that Annabeth's questioning round was futile, "can I try? Maybe?"

"No!" She snapped, waving her dagger in his direction. (He quickly jumped back.) "I am the _wisdom's daughter_ , Ron, I'm supposed to be able to solve this on my own!"

She could almost hear Percy whispering ' _fatal flaw, Wise Girl'_ in her ear, but she refused to listen.

Her mother was the goddess Athena, for Heracles' sake.

Surely she could outwit Janus?

"Percy Jackson," she said in the middle of the left head's sentence, "and Harry Potter. Are they beyond the next door?"

"Behind this one, surely!" The right head bellowed, at the same time the left one said, "Take this door, miss, that's where they are!"

Ron shuffled on his feet, slowly creeping closer to stand next to her. (Failing miserably, in short, to do it quietly.) She turned her head quickly and glared at him. Did he not trust her? "Ron! What did I just say, honestly!"

"Blimey," he scooted back quickly, his hands in the air, and he turned to Hermione. "I swear, those grey eyes of her can _burn_."

She ignored that comment and turned back to Janus again, her hands in her hair from frustration.

"How can you –"

Suddenly she was shoved out of the way, and before she could have her dagger out again Ron had waltzed past her and asked in a demanding sort of tone; "What's two times two?"

Annabeth's mouth fell open, her angry remark lost. _It couldn't have been this easy, could it?_

"That's four, easy," said the left head quickly, just as the right head bellowed, "shut up! Shut up!"

 _Apparently, yes._

For a second or two she felt like flinging her arms around Ron – but to hug him or strangle him, she wasn't sure. So she kept standing where she was instead, frozen in her spot, her mouth open like a gaping fish. _Ronald Weasley_ , supposedly airhead and comic relief, had solved _Janus_ ' riddle, something _she_ hadn't been able to do?

Wizards would never cease to amaze her.

"What door leads to our friends Percy and Harry?" Ron then continued, when he saw that Annabeth was incapable of speech.

"This one," the left head said cheerfully, while the right one just groaned, "I hate my job."

"Thanks very much!" Ron grinned, and turned back around to Annabeth. He immediately deflated, and winced when he saw Annabeth's expression. "Sorry," he mumbled quickly, "I just thought I'd ask, and we'd been here for so long already, and –"

Annabeth tried to smile. (It hurt to do so.) "It was a smart thing you did, Ron. You don't need to apologize."

Grover drew in a sharp breath, and started laughing. "Now you've done it, Weasley."

"What have I done now?"

"You just broke Annabeth. She called someone _smart_ that wasn't herself."

This jarred Annabeth awake, and she nudged Grover playfully whilst rolling her eyes. "Shut up, Goat Boy." He grinned even wider. "Oh, and Ron?" She turned to the redhead again, strangely embarrassed, "Could you maybe never tell this to Percy? He'd never let me hear the end of it."

"Yeah," Grover snickered, starting off to the left door with an energy in his pace that hadn't been there before, "can you really blame him?"

Annabeth sighed, watching how Janus reluctantly gave Grover the old silver key he'd been holding before disappearing in thin air. _I suppose I really can't._

* * *

 **a/n:** This is going to be a long author's note; for those too lazy to read it: **thank you for reading this, and please review if you like it!**

So many people had responded to the questions where they'd come from, and what their Hogwarts house was! And since so many people asked: I'm half Italian, half Dutch, born in Switzerland, and my Hogwarts house is ( _and I say this with pride and joy_ ) Slytherin! Most of you guessed right, haha! (What gave my snake-ness away?)

Some people asked for the stats of my readers, so here:

Ravenclaw: 58%

Slytherin: 12%

Hufflepuff: 12%

Gryffindor: 18%

(So, Ravenclaws, you're in the majority here, congrats.)

You guys come from across the entire world, I'm so psyched about it! (Though none of you from Holland or Italy? I'm slightly disappointed. Ah, well, you can't have everything.)

 **And now, for the lovely people who'd reviewed anonymously - and boy, so so so many of you reviewed! Thanks in advance! Please keep doing so! (I'm sorry for keeping y'all hanging for so long)**

Amdela: You weren't anonymous, I know, but you've disabled the reply function, so I'm gonna do it this way. Thank you so much! I hope I'll keep it interesting :) (And hey! A fellow snake! Cool.)

Lyssa: Woo-hoo, long live Slytherin!

Guest: I won't stop writing this, don't worry! (But I'm glad you loved it, really.)

Garda Willows: Wow! Hey, don't undersell your house, 'puffs are awesome! I'd like me some Hufflepuff friends, you can't really ask for a more loyal person, right? Also, wow. You've got an interesting story. What's living there like? (And you have the perfect age for receiving your Hogwarts letter - has it come through in the mail yet?)

Lthien Iriss: Hi, Violet! It's not a weird policy, I do that sometimes too. And, ah, that's really the sweetest thing someone said to me! Thank you! Why do you prefer this one above the others you've read? (And do you have any recs? Hah.) Ah, lioness at heart, are you? I think the Weasleys would approve.

Frida: Did I mention I am in love with all your reviews? They're always so _nice._ And sorry to disappoint, but they didn't do anything stupid… don't worry, though, there's much stupidity to come in future chapters - without it, they're not really themselves, are they? Oh, Sweden! Nice! My best friend lives in Finland, she talks a bit Swedish (and all I can say is _söt liten jävel_ , and don't ask me why I know those words haha!)

I'm The Hero: The amazing usa? Is that how you always pronounce it? ;) And ahw, thank you! I hope you'll like the future bits of the story, too, then!

Guest: Very well noticed! Yeah, Clarisse is different of course at the end of the Last Olympian then she was at the Lightning Thief - with great help from her lovely boyfriend - but I portrayed her this way, because the only times she's featured in this fic is when hostile strangers invaded her home! Can you really blame her for bitching when Rachel came up with another prophecy to the end of the world? (I can't.) So that's why she's this way.

Guest: THANK YOU I'M GLAD YOU LIKED THE POEM

Guest: I'm glad you liked it! (You reviewed on ch12, right?) I like writing talk-scenes, but they seem so slow too, whilst fight-scenes are quick and people tend to like those more - case en point, chapter 12 had about 15 reviews and the last one, with a fight, had about 50! So, yeah, people's preference about that is pretty clear haha!

ThePointer: Hah, always looking at the bright side, I guess?

Guest: Thank you, I love writing about the Labyrinth too.

Guest: Thanks!

Anita: Uh, now? Sorry for keeping you so long - studying and doing final exams is no fun, trust me. One more week and then I've got summer vacation, so I'll be able to update FAR more often then! (I'm aiming to update weekly!)

Guest: What's "." supposed to mean?

 **Wow - long responses to lots of lovely people! I won't even lie and complain about it.** **Have a lovely weekend, folks!**


	21. A Magical Visit

**a/n:** Summer vacation! Yes! (If you're wondering, yes, that means more updates.) Chapter warning: there might be some swearing with the f-word. Sorry.

* * *

 **Chapter 21**

 **A Magical Visit**

Harry Potter's life quite possibly couldn't get much weirder than this.

The maze was the most improbable thing he'd ever seen – one minute jumping across stepping stones to avoid stepping in something that looked like liquid quicksand, the next walking down the stairs through an old-fashioned wine cellar. (So old-fashioned that even the bottles were covered with a thick layer of dust.)

But what worried Harry the most, was Percy.

He kept succumbing every now and then, stumbling ungracefully on his too-tired feet, and he'd had to be pushed and pulled and half-carried by Harry so often that they'd lost count. They really needed their rest, especially considering a new monster could jump out at them at any given moment. And _Boy-Who-Lived_ or not, Harry doubted he'd survive as much as a confrontation with a Kneazle.

They really needed their rest, but they didn't dare to actually stop. They hadn't said it out loud, but they knew the other felt the same. The elephant in the room they didn't want to acknowledge – the weight on their shoulders of the growing worry about their friends. Were they okay? Were they still together? Were they still in the maze, trapped somewhere, or worse – had they come across something they hadn't been able to defeat?

"So," Percy said dryly after almost an hour of silence, "This is kind of boring."

Harry snorted. "Please knock on wood, mate, I'd hate to see you corrected."

Obediently Percy knocked on the first patch of wood he could find – the roots of a tree sticking out from the ceiling above them – and he grinned at Harry. "You can always tell me what it's like?"

"What what's like?"

"Being a wizard?" Percy's grin widened. "I mean, it must be pretty awesome, right? Your life must be dam easy – I mean, if there hadn't been any prophecies to disrupt it."

That made Harry laugh. _He isn't half wrong, either._ "Being a wizard is supposed to be easy, yeah, but I've always had a knack for attracting trouble, so I can't really say my life has been uneventful. Can't complain, though. I hadn't known I was a wizard until I was eleven," Percy had almost slipped on the muddy ground, so Harry pulled him upright without even thinking about it, and he continued, "so I think I'll never be able to take magic for granted."

Percy put his hand on Harry's shoulder, leaning all his weight in it – but he was walking on his own. Harry had to admire his persistence. "I didn't know I was a demigod until I was twelve, either," Percy said, his speech speeding up due to excitement, "It was so weird, though. Like the entire world around you suddenly changed."

"Exactly!" Harry grinned. "It's like the first time you put on your glasses after not realizing you needed them."

"Yes!" Percy retracted his hand again, staring at its shaking sheepishly. "But I'd..." his voice faltered. "Never mind."

Percy was tired, but the wavering of his voice wasn't exhaustion – it was doubt. Worry. Maybe even shame. Percy looked like he had wanted to say something he shouldn't have said, yet wanted to say it badly. So Harry stopped him, turned him around, and said in a soft tone; "Perce – spill it."

Percy's gaze met Harry's for a second, as if making sure Harry wasn't kidding about his seriousness. When Harry's gaze stayed stubbornly even, Percy's mouth quirked upwards. "I never _wanted_ to be a half-blood." He admitted quickly, as if it were a dirty secret. "I know it's supposed to be awesome, you know, being the hero of Olympus. Hades, I saved the world last summer, and I..." he cleared his throat awkwardly, "I could've been made a god."

Harry's eyes widened.

Wait, what?

"A..." It felt like something the size of a Quaffle had suddenly lodged in his throat. "A god? _You?"_

Percy's grin grew – but his eyes didn't cooperate. "Yeah. Long story short, there was another prophecy, for someone else, or, well, me too... anyway, the prophecy came true, and the gods granted me to be like them. But I... I couldn't take it."

Percy's hands were shaking, his cheeks were flushed red and he kept avoiding Harry's eyes – Harry had never seen him this nervous. It almost seemed like Percy was afraid someone might overhear them, someone who would laugh and ridicule Percy, or maybe someone who would punish him for thinking this way.

And for a second Harry wanted to hug him.

(He had never been the hugging type.)

Percy, oblivious about Harry's internal thoughts, kept mumbling on. "I just – at the time I thought I'd stayed mortal for Annabeth, and I think that was a pretty big reason. But.. I never even wanted to be a _demigod_. A _half_ god." He breathed out. Even that seemed to be shaky. "How could I ever be a god, if I didn't even want to be this? What god would not want to be what he is?"

"Percy..." Harry took a deep breath. Emotions and making people feel better about themselves had never been his strong suit, but he tried his best to channel some of Hermione's wisdom. "There's nothing wrong with you, you know, for thinking that? I think I even get it."

"Do you?" Percy's green eyes met Harry's.

Even Harry's smile felt sad. "Maybe not. I don't think there is anyone in this entire world that knows what that feels like." Harry then pointed to his lightning scar. "Did anyone tell you how I got this?"

Percy shook his head. To his credit, he didn't look at the scar. "Zeus' blessing?"

"Zeus? That's the lightning guy, right?"

For the first time Percy's laugh sounded genuine. "Yeah, but don't call him that. He's got quite the vanity issues, and doesn't like it to be addressed as anything less than _Lord Zeus, King of Olympus_."

Harry felt like his eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline. (Not that that was difficult, mind, with his fringe hanging so low.) "Right. But, no. Wizards and witches can use any spell, like you've already seen, but there are three kind of curses that are forbidden by our ministry. Using them, and you face imprisonment. They're called the Unforgivable Curses."

Percy snorted, despite the seriousness. "Original."

"Says the guy who lives at Camp _Half-Blood_."

"Touché."

"Anyway. You have three curses, one for mind-control, one for torture – and the killing curse."

This time it was Percy's time to look shocked. "Wait – you wizards can literally kill someone using just one word?" He shook his head. "We really should not underestimate this quest."

"Yeah." Harry cleared his throat sheepishly. "Anyway.. it's unstoppable. No shield charm can block it, there's no way of reversing it once it's cast."

Percy suddenly sat down on the floor –unclear whether it was intentional or accidental. Harry sat down with him anyway, ignoring the mud sticking to his jeans. "This was an educational conversation," Percy said finally, "but is there a point to it? And what's got it to do with your scar?"

 _And now comes the hard part._ "Well... there was a dark wizard who ruled some years ago – and he's back now, but... well, that story is just too long to tell now – and he tried to kill me when I was a baby, for some stupid reason that he believed I might thwart him if he didn't."

Percy might seem slow sometimes, or oblivious to things going on around him when he didn't care – but he was in no way stupid. His eyes narrowed immediately, and he said in a low voice, " _Voldemort_."

Harry didn't even ask him how he knew that – his friends and himself had slipped his names too many times not to have been noticed. "Yeah. But.. Well, it didn't work." He then pointed to his scar, feeling a blush creep up his cheeks. "I don't know why, but I'm the only wizard who has had someone cast the killing curse at them and lived to tell the tale." This was the first time Harry had ever had to actually tell someone his story – everyone in the magical world already knew it – and it felt liberating. Percy was just staring at him, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration, as if he wanted to absorb every word. And Harry wasn't sure if he ever wanted to stop talking to him. "This scar is my souvenir of that encounter. So no, Perce, I might not know what it feels like being offered to be made a god – but I do know what it's like when hundreds of people try to treat you like one, and then finding it weird that you'd rather run away and scream."

That brought out a laugh in Percy – the sound echoed all across the underground hole, and for a few moments it was possible to imagine that they weren't sitting cross-legged in a deadly maze talking about things that made their entire existence improbable.

"Okay," Percy finally said, still grinning from ear to ear, "Is it weird that I'm glad that you're a weirdo, too?"

Harry lightly bumped Percy's fist, mirroring his expression. "Here's to being the worst chosen ones that have ever been chosen."

"Cheers."

Then they both stilled.

Somewhere off in the distance – too far away in the dark for them to be able to see what it had been – someone was walking. No, not walking, _stomping_. Loudly. And talking, too, obviously not caring who might hear him. She. It. Them?

Harry's gaze crossed Percy's.

Only a monster powerful enough to knock anyone off their path would be this careless in making so much noise.

"Shit," Percy finally muttered under his breath. "I really hate this maze."

Harry scrambled up, and pulled his friend with him. Agreeing with him felt like stating the obvious. "Get behind me."

Percy didn't argue. (Merlin, he couldn't even stand on his own two feet without falling down, he knew when to admit defeat.)

" _Lumos,"_ Harry muttered as soon as he had his wand out, and spread his legs as if preparing himself for a wizarding duel. Spells hadn't worked on the last monster – okay, fine, he hadn't even bothered trying, but he wasn't going to think about his stupidity for very long – and he wasn't sure whether magic would help at all in fighting the Greek mythical monsters.

It was in any way better than to keep relying on his sword. (He knew for a _fact_ that that hadn't helped last time. The Cynolycus' body had seemed to be made out of bullet-proof skin, the way their weapons had kept bouncing off it.)

It was a whole lot better than to be relying on Percy's powers.

"Can you see it?" Percy whispered, his hand on Harry's shoulder. He was taller than Harry was, and was probably only leaning on him not to fall over. They really needed to sleep.

"No," Harry whispered back. "But I can almost hear it."

And he could. The stomping, the sound as if someone was literally jumping as loud as they could in iron shoes, was growing louder and louder. And it wouldn't be long now before whatever was making that noise would turn the corner and face them.

Harry's eyes widened – something had just entered his view. Something small and white, but he didn't bother to look properly. His instincts had taken over, and he bellowed; " _Stupefy!"_

His Lumos died out at the same time the hallway bursted with red light, and Harry almost had to close his eyes to avoid being blinded. They flew open, however, when he finally saw what (who) had just entered their hallway.

 _Hermione._

"Fuck!" He shouted, not caring that cursing wasn't proper, that Percy might jump and fall from shock. "Hermione!"

He wasn't the only one who shouted her name. Ron – who had jumped from around the corner – had pushed her away from the red beam, shouting her name in a desperate cry. The curse, instead of hitting Hermione, hit the wall behind them, and the ground beneath them began to shake.

"Hermione," Harry breathed, his eyes still too wide. His heart felt too big for his chest. "Shit. Are you okay?"

"Harry!" She shouted back, her eyes equally wide. "Thank merlin!"

That wasn't really the reaction he'd expected from almost stunning her. (He hadn't exactly been holding back.) For a few seconds all he could do was stare at her, and judging by Ron's expression, he felt about the same.

Then Ron turned to Harry, too, and shook his head as if he was both tired and relieved to see him. "Mate, you have good instincts, but do try to look who you're shooting at."

That made Harry grin sheepishly. "Sorry, 'Mione. You just looked like a monster for a second."

She crossed her arms. Even from this distance, Harry could see she was only acting as if she were annoyed – she really was too relieved to see him in one piece. "Thanks for that, really. But I suppose I can't really blame –"

"Percy?"

Hermione turned. Annabeth had appeared next to her, and her eyes looked crazy – as if she just saw a ghost. (Had they run into a monster? Was Annabeth attacked? She didn't have any injuries.) Her gaze was focused on Percy, who was still clinging to Harry's shoulder as if it was a lifeline.

"Hey, Wise Girl," Percy said with a grin. "Glad to know you're okay."

She didn't look glad. If anything, she looked mad. For a second she just stared at her boyfriend, then she huffed and started stalking towards us. Her feet made a loud thumping sound, even though it was just mud, and Harry immediately knew it had been Annabeth who had been making so much noise. (Why was she so mad? Had Ron pissed her off?)

"You've been using too much power, haven't you?" She almost spit her words out. "I have told you not to do that, it might _kill_ you one of these days!"

Percy held up his hands – which wasn't a smart move. He started wobbling on his feet. "I'm pretty sure dying isn't even optional for me."

"Not funny, Perce," Grover said from across the hall. Ron snorted.

Annabeth only had eyes for Percy. "You're covered in mud."

"We were having a picnic!" Percy defended, pointing at Harry. (Who was also covered in mud. Well, his jeans were, anyway. His sweater still looked relatively clean.)

Annabeth looked like she wanted to smile and frown at the same time. She finally settled for looking slightly exasperated. "A _picnic_. In the labyrinth."

Percy shrugged. "Yeah. Kinda. It was very enlightening."

He and Percy crossed gazes, and they both smiled. Annabeth didn't miss that, and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Then don't tell me."

"You're not going to get mad at me for using too much power?"

"Oh, I am mad." She said. "Very." Then she kissed him, and Harry thought that she might be more worried than mad, after all. Ron made gagging noises in the background, but the two of them didn't really seem to care. When Annabeth leaned away again, Percy's face looked red and flushed, but less tired than he'd looked in hours. "Don't ever get lost again, do you hear me?"

Percy grinned slowly. "Loud and clear, Wise Girl."

"Good." If Harry didn't know any better, it seemed like Annabeth was blushing, too. "Now let's go and find us a place to sleep."

"Thank merlin!" Ron shouted, stomping towards them. He grinned at Harry, which turned into an apologetic smile when Hermione suddenly hugged Harry so tightly his breath left his lungs. (Whilst muttering things like ' _you're a stupid idiot_ ' in his ear.) "I was afraid you were never going to say that."

x

They'd started debating who was going to have first watch the minute they spotted a hallway relatively fine for sleeping – thus, a ground which wasn't either lethal or bad for your clothes – but when Percy had literally fallen asleep as soon as his head had touched the ground, they decided that they should all just take a quick nap instead.

"Good night," Harry muttered, his hands snugged inside his sweater's pockets and his hood up as a sad excuse for a pillow.

"'night," Ron replied tiredly, which was soon followed by snores.

Harry'd had trouble sleeping for weeks – no, months. After what happened at the third task of the Triwizard Tournament Harry had been constantly plagued by vicious nightmares of the graveyard, of Cedric, of them deciding they both should grab the cup, and the weird nightmares of Harry never reaching the door at the end of the hallway.

Those nightmares had made him very unwilling to go to sleep at all, often postponing it by running lapses in his room. (Until Uncle Vernon would shout through the cat-flap in his door to calm the hell down.)

Now, however, he was so tired that he, just like Percy, fell asleep as soon as he'd closed his eyes.

And for the first time in months he slept dreamless.

x

"Wake up, boy."

" _No,_ " Harry muttered, his eyes firmly closed. He just wanted five more minutes – maybe even just one. Anything better to have another day at the Dursleys. "Go away, Uncle."

"I am not your Uncle, little one."

Slightly confused, Harry opened one eye.

And scrambled straight up.

Right across from his stood a woman – but no ordinary woman. He immediately knew she couldn't be human, couldn't be mortal. She was at least seven feet tall, and her dress robe was so black it seemed to absorb all the light around it. In her hands she held a wooden staff, but nothing like any wand Harry had ever seen, and there was a literal flame bursting from the tip, illuminating the room. The goddess – because of course she was a goddess, how could she not be one with an ageless face like hers? – was smiling kindly at him, her eyes reflecting the light.

She was beautiful... but Harry felt scared all the same.

"Ah," she sighed, smiling still. "My little lightning boy."

It was way too early for this. "I..." Harry cleared his throat awkwardly, and looked at his friends. They were all still sleeping, which was weird. It wasn't as if they couldn't have heard the goddess talking, nor him waking up so soundly. And there was this weird green mist hanging above them... "What's wrong with them?"

The goddess waved her hand carelessly, and Harry flinched. (Who knew what powers that goddess held in just the tip of her finger?) "I lulled them to sleep with a harmless hymn. They'll be back to normal the moment I'm gone."

"Right." It wasn't right, but he couldn't say that. Not to a goddess. He wasn't stupid. "And who are you?"

"Hecate, of course," she said airily, "goddess of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, crossroads – all right up your alley, if I should believe all the stories they tell about you." The flame kept bouncing with every word she spoke, getting higher and lower as her voice did. Her skin was so pale. "And I _do_ believe them."

Still getting used to the fact that a goddess – an ancient, all-powerful immortal goddess – knew about him, Harry tried to stay calm. (And not freak out by running away screaming.) "You've heard stories about me?"

"Why, yes of _course_ , lightning boy."

She never wavered her eyes from Harry's face, so naturally, he avoided it like the plague, and looked around the small room instead. At both ends of the room were creatures, as if guard-dogs, to keep him from running if he dared to. On the left there was a polecat, strolling around, and on the right sat a dog, who looked too intelligent for a simple animal if you'd ask Harry. (Maybe an animagus?)

"What..." Harry cleared his throat again. (Speaking to goddesses was apparently not his strong suit.) "What are you doing here?"

"I thought that was obvious." She looked honestly surprised. "You are one of my creation, lightning boy, and one of the most powerful at that. My children have sided against you – not that I can blame them, I'm afraid, for he who wants to kill you is a magical miracle in an entire different way – so I couldn't stop myself from seeing you." Her gaze swept across Harry's body, from his untidily hair to his scruffy-looking shoes. (His shoes were brown from the mud, and half his jeans were, too. He didn't know what you were supposed to wear when an immortal being visited you, but this couldn't be it.)

He grinned sheepishly. "If I'd known a goddess would've come to visit, I would've worn something nicer."

She almost smiled. "You wouldn't have, but it's nice of you to say so. You resemble Poseidon," she finally decided, for the first time looking at Harry's friends beside him. "But you aren't his child, I can sense it. You are a very strange wizard, indeed."

He shouldn't laugh at a goddess – but he did it anyway. "I know."

Her face darkened for a moment, but the moment had passed as quickly as it had happened. "I am not going to stop my children from fighting you, but I will not join them, either."

"Er – thank you?"

She nodded, as if accepting it. "Olympus has forgiven me for the side I had picked during the last war, but your demigod friends have not. They have not forgiven any immortal being for making the same choice I did, lest their own parents. I know you are less judgmental than your friends –" her eyes fell on Annabeth (who was drooling uncharacteristically in her sleep) "– which is why I speak about this to you, and you alone, lightning boy. I refuse to pick a side again, especially at wars that concerns both my creations."

In short, Harry thought amusedly, her visit was entirely pointless.

(And he was never, ever going to say that out loud.)

(Could goddesses read minds?)

(Merlin, he hoped not.)

"Well," Harry finally said when it seemed like she wouldn't say more, "I suppose that's understandable. Though Voldemort –" she raised a mere eyebrow at the casual mention of his name " – isn't really the same kind of wizard as I am."

"He uses the gift I had given to your kind," she countered, but she was still smiling. "He uses it with so much obsession, and he cherishes his gift with the same amount as you do. How are you two different?"

"He's killed people! He..." Harry blinked. "He's the darkest wizard there has ever been –"

Hecate shrugged. (A goddess, shrugging at him. Harry felt as if he was still dreaming.) "And yet he is a wizard, like you are. Would you condemn me for choosing the wrong side at the last war? Would you hold me accountable for the many deaths that war has cost – including those of my own children – because of my choice?" When Harry didn't say anything, she leaned back. "I thought not. As I said before, this little quarrel, this _war_... I won't back you up nor your arch-nemesis. But I am here, little lightning boy, to give you a little piece of advice."

He nodded slowly, not daring to speak out loud. (How could she say Voldemort was like him? He wasn't. He _wasn't._ )

"You will not find what you seek in Colorado." She waved her wand around, and her two guard-dogs quickly joined her side, stepping over his sleeping friends effortlessly. "If you go there, you will find nothing but pain. Safe yourself the trouble."

Harry blinked. Then blinked again. "Wait – what? But we have to go there! It's our only lead!"

"It isn't, little lightning boy, you have been too simple-minded to actually see." Her voice sounded stern, but her eyes were kind. "Go west, go _back_ , and don't trust the snakes. If you encounter a dog, listen to him – he will guide you."

Nothing what she was saying made sense. Harry's chin had probably dropped to the floor by now in his confusion. "I will not go back!" He shouted finally, pointing at his friends on the floor. "It has taken us ridiculously long to get here in the first place, I'm not –"

"You shouldn't take my advice so lightly, boy." Her fire flickered, and her eyes seemed to glow in the dark. "It is not often that I come back on earth to speak to mortals such as yourself."

"I – I mean no _disrespect_ , but –"

"Yet you showed it anyway." She petted her she-dog with her left hand, gazing down upon Harry. There was something in her glance that seemed final – as if she decided she had stayed here long enough. "Heath my advice, little lightning boy. You should do well to follow it." Her eyes fell upon his friends again. "Especially considering your... prophecy."

And with that she shimmered – and disappeared without even a single puff of wind.

After the goddess had gone, Harry had trouble falling asleep, tossing and turning about her last words. Because he knew exactly what part of the prophecy she had tried to warn her about – the part of the prophecy that, if he went on to Colorado, would come true. The same sentence that had pained Percy so much when he had to choose who to take with him.

 _Facing pain and deadly losses to stop a war._

* * *

 **Thank you all for the massive amount of reviews on the last chapter, they made me so happy! Please, if you liked this chapter – or if you just want to speak to me about either headcanons about this story or about, well,** ** _anything_** **– review! Make my day!**

(I have just finished reading _Carry On_ for about the fifth time. Was it too noticeable by using the line ' _worst chosen ones that have ever been chosen'_? Ah well. Sue me. I love that darned book, and especially Baz. (And, damn, now I want to write a fic about them, what have you done, Rainbow Rowell?))

 **Anyway, I'm getting distracted. Here are my replies to the wonderful anonymous reviewers;**

Frida: Again, your review was very kind. You really have to stop doing that. (Or I'm merely updating quickly to get a new one from you.) Well, you can speak more Italian than some half-Italian people I know, so congrats :) And I'm really really glad you liked that chapter! I honestly love Ron with all my heart, so I couldn't help giving him a part in solving it. The Hidden Oracle just came into my mail today, and I'm going to read it as soon as I publish this chapter – and ah, yes, another Solangelo shipper! I love those two very much! (Maybe you should read my Solangelo fic on ao3? I'm totally not showing off. Shh.) And yeah, I might include those two, though I'm not sure yet. I'd promised to stay in canon, regarding their relationships, but I might get those two to flirt shamelessly. (Well, not might. Probably. Definitely. Sigh.) You don't have to admire anything though – it's not really my fantasy! I mean, I _literally_ use someone else's characters! Still, it's nice of you to say so. Have a lovely day!

Guest: Go Slytherin, indeed!

Lyssa: One day! *cue ominous villain-y laughter*

Gingewonka: (Nice name) Wow, reading it in one hour? I'm kinda impressed. How did you manage that? Thank you for saying that though, and it's not a service – it's a hobby!

Violet: You dislike Annabeth? Ah… She's my queen, so I'm sorry if I don't agree. Her hubris might be stubbornly irritating at times, but it's not really her fault. Well, I'll see it as my job now to show you how awesome she is during this fic! (Totally not a big job. Sh.) Thank you for explaining that! I don't see how this fic could be fulfilling in any way, but I'm glad that it is that way for you! If this is one of your first fics, how did you come across it? (Thanks for the recs!) Love.

VanRiddleZ: Ahw, thank you! So much! It's my pleasure.


	22. A Tree Roots For Our Bodily Mutilation

**a/n:** This chapter is so long by accident, but I'm totally acting as if this was my plan all along. Characters aren't mine. (Maybe the name of this site gave that away already?.. Just sayin'.)

Special thanks to _Gryffindor01_ for having such great ideas for this story that I can't even begin to write them, and for _Frida_ for being just too goddamn kind.

 **Chapter 22**

 **A Tree Roots For Our Bodily Mutilation**

Ginny Weasley had never doubted her intelligence.

She wasn't on top of her class like Hermione was in the year above her – no one was as smart as Hermione – but she knew she could outsmart people in her year with ease, like per example Colin Creevey.

(Everyone could outsmart Colin, but that was neither here nor there.)

She knew she was going to get a couple O.W.L.'s in two years, if Harry wouldn't wreck so much hammock with another adventure that might prevent her from getting an adequate education (again), and she knew she wasn't going to worry about her N.E.W.T.'s like her brother Percy had done. She might not become prefect or Head Girl, but she knew her way around magic.

(And she especially knew her way around Quidditch. She was a star in Quidditch, and intelligence was very much needed to perform like she did, it was not just brute strength and sheer luck, thanks very much.)

But at this moment, with Nico di Angelo summoning dead kittens made out of nothing but bones just because the small boy was bored, she found herself staring like a proper idiot, with an open mouth and eyes popping out like a fish.

How was he doing this?

He was just flexing and relaxing his fingers, not even _slightly_ looking like he was trying to concentrate. He wasn't using a wand – no one could raise the dead like that, let alone do it _wandless_ – and he wasn't whispering incantations.

The smallest of them rolled around for him.

Was it actually exposing its belly to get rubbed?

Nico leaned forward and did exactly that, scratching the ribs of the kitten and its sternum affectionately, and Ginny could swear she heard it _purr_.

Her twin brothers and Will were not far away trying to find branches for a campfire – without using their wands, since Ginny forbade them from using magic in case they accidentally set everything on fire. (Which had happened before, in case anyone was wondering.) She could hear their bickering, but she couldn't _listen,_ because Nico was _rubbing a dead kitten's belly._

"You're so weird," she finally concluded, and rubbed her eyes, a certain sign of her frustration. (Her mom always said she might rub her eyes away if she kept doing that. So far, her eyes hadn't sunken away yet.)

She could almost hear the grin in his voice. "Thanks."

"And morbid."

"Are kittens morbid?"

She slowly opened one eye. Nico was staring at her as if she was the weird one – which made it all even worse. "No! Dead ones, though?"

"They won't bite!" He shook his head, almost as if her were disappointed. "Seriously, try it."

She immediately pulled her knees up to her chest, and locked her arms around it as if to protect herself. "Are you mental? I'm not touching corpses."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you scared?"

She couldn't back down. (She was a proud Gryffindor, after all.) "No."

"Then why don't you –"

"Ugh, _fine_."

His grin was shining in the dark, but it seemed too stretched, too wide – as if he wasn't used to smiling. She ignored _that_ morbid thought and leaned forward slowly, her hand outstretched.

She wasn't scared. Honestly.

Dead things were just supposed to stay dead, that's all.

Just when her fingers brushed the cat it suddenly shot away, as if it could sense her fear, and it disappeared in the darkness. The other kittens – who had been sitting on Nico's lap – chased after it.

He watched them go with a small smile.

"So," Ginny said after a while, trying to keep the relief out of her voice, (she hadn't been scared!), "your, uh, divine... uh, I mean, godlike parent is Thanatos, then?"

"Not god _like_." He turned back, his expression turning to normal. (Thus, depressively brooding.) "An actual god. And no, not Thanatos, but close. My dad is Hades, god of the Underworld."

Ginny swallowed. "So that's why... why you knew Harry wasn't normal."

"Sort of." He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as if embarrassed. "I can feel it when people die. It sort of feels like a pull in my abdomen, and that pull gets bigger the better I know the person who died. I almost don't notice it nowadays, but if I concentrate, I can find out who it is and how that person died, too. Another one of my special 'powers'," he scowled, "is being able to see people's dead auras. Some people have that, sort of like a black cloud, with shadows surrounding them – those people usually die pretty soon." His grin turned into a grimace, and Ginny couldn't help but pity him. "Everyone has the starting of a cloud like that, especially demigods like us. Well, not you, but.. you know what I mean."

She nodded solemnly. No wonder Nico was so depressed all the time, she thought, with powers like these. It mustn't be easy for a young kid like him, to know who might die soon, and to feel the hundreds of thousands of people dying every day, too.

"Harry, however..." he continued, picking on a thread on his jeans, "I didn't notice it at first because I usually ignore the 'clouds' – you can imagine it's a pretty big buzzkill when I meet new people – but his cloud wasn't..."

"Wasn't there?" Ginny guessed.

"No, it was." He sighed deeply. "I can't really explain it. It's as if trying to explain in what way Percy's eye colour green is different than Harry's – you just know it is."

For a second Ginny wanted to laugh. "Been checking out Harry's eyes?"

"No!" Nico spluttered, and he looked around, as if afraid someone might've heard them. "Of course not! He's just a perfect copy of Percy – "

"Ah," Ginny nodded, knowingly, "been checking out _Percy_ , then?"

Nico's blush was as red as Ginny's hair at this point. "No. Shut up."

"Evening, lad and lass," Fred suddenly said cheerfully, trudging in on their spot with his arms filled with branches, ignoring Nico and Ginny jumping up in shock, "glad to see you two are having fun."

" _Fun_ , brother?" George joined him, and he was smirking. He was strangely comfortable and cheery for someone who had leaves stuck in his hair and mud on his face. "I'd say they're switching crushes, by the looks of their blushes."

"That rhymed!" Fred said.

"Yeah, yeah," Nico grumbled, crossing his arms like an upset toddler, "just start the fire, will you? I'm freezing."

"I'd calm that tone if I were you, Death Boy," Will said, grinning from ear to ear. His hair still shone like a sun, even in the dark, and something told Ginny it had to do with his divine parentage. (Even Fred and George's ginger hairdos looked black in this light, so Will had to either have magical hair, or he'd set it on fire.) "You might upset the nymphs."

Nico rolled his eyes. "I think you've upset them more, _Rapunzel_ , seeing you've just stolen their arms." He pointed at the branches the three boys were holding.

"Rapunzel?" Will spluttered, on the verge of laughter.

"Yeah." Nico grinned slowly. " _Flower, gleam and glow, let your power shine_ –"

Will's face was darker than Fred's hair. Ginny was sure that if she touched his cheeks now, she'd burn her hands. "You are never going to let that go, are you?"

Ginny immediately whipped her head around to look at Nico. He looked amused. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Well –" Nico started, but he was interrupted.

"Don't you _dare!_ " Will shouted, stamping his foot on the ground.

"A week or two ago," Nico went on mercilessly, and Will just groaned in defeat, "Will was caught singing the song of Rapunzel's magical healing blonde hair in the shower – and ever since, people have been singing that melody every time he starts talking about his hair, or at times it's just so obviously blond –"

"Of course my hair is obviously blond! I _am_ blond!" Will proclaimed, and he threw his newly found branches on the ground. "That's not my fault!"

"Yeah, well." Nico grinned again. When he grinned at Will, his smile didn't seem so forced. Not scary like it had looked when he'd smiled at Ginny, anyway. "As long as you're calling me Death Boy, I'm calling you Rapunzel. It's fair."

Will snorted. "Fair, my –"

"Language, my dear boy," Fred said, scolding, but he had a smile on his face. "You wouldn't want to upset the nymphs."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Like you even know what nymphs are, idiot."

"Of course I do!" He faked shock by gasping, threw his branches on Will's, and then dramatically clutched his fist above his chest. "That wounds me, dear sister, that you think I do not know such obvious things! Nymphs are beautiful, intelligent creatures of the flora with the amazing power to transform at will!"

Ginny blinked. "Okay," she said after a short silence, "who are you and what have you done to my brother?"

He huffed, and sat down. "Don't be a heartbreaker, Gin. I do know my Greek stuff."

"Ah." She then smiled. "You ran into one in the forest just now, didn't you?"

George and Will laughed, and Ginny knew she was right. Satisfied with herself, she kicked her feet out in front of her and leaned back.

"If you guys don't mind," she finally said, tapping with her hand on her wand next to her, "I'll start that fire now."

Nico gestured to the pile of wood in front of him. "Be my guest."

 _"Incendio,"_ she said clearly – she still hadn't mastered nonverbal spells – and was very glad to see that Nico recoiled by instinct from the sudden flames. (Glad, because it felt good to know that the boy was as frightened by her powers as she was by his.)

It was a quiet night – ignoring her twin brothers snickering quietly with each other, and if she stubbornly did not think about their impossible plan to find her youngest brother, she could almost imagine as if they were camping. On a proper, well-deserved summer vacation. (Which they would've had now, actually, if Harry hadn't ruined it by being, well, his usual unlucky self.)

Just when Ginny closed her eyes to take a short nap a twig snapped.

Fourteen years of instinct built up by living with the twins kicked in, and Ginny bolted upright, her wand in her hand pointing at the source of the sound. Her two brothers were no different, jumping in front of her, and the demigods had jumped up as well. Nico summoning the shadows around him, whilst Will even brightened up more. (And that is brightened as in, literally shimmering in the dark like a firefly in the dark.)

"Show yourself!" Will shouted, sounding braver than Ginny felt. "We're armed!"

"I should hope so!" A voice called back, and Ginny almost lowered her wand. It had sounded like a young girl. "Being unarmed is a dangerous business in times like these!"

Will and Nico exchanged glances, and Nico then called, "Who are you?"

The unknown person snorted, and then a figure stepped into the clearing.

Ginny almost gasped out loud.

It was a girl, all right, but not like on she'd ever seen before. She had brown skin, a dark, tree-like brown, with green frizzy hair standing in every direction. Even her eye 'white' was brown, and for a second Ginny wondered if the inside of the girl's mouth was brown, too.

"I'm Willow," the girl said, rolling her eyes. "A nymph, in case you hadn't noticed that yet."

"Er," for the second time that evening, Ginny felt like gaping like a fish stuck on dry land, "yeah, I noticed."

"If you're a willow nymph," Nico asked suddenly, "how come your hair is all frizzy?"

"Nico!" Will nudged him. "We really have to work on your people skills."

"Nymph skills," Nico corrected, and grinned.

Willow seemed bored by this, and she rolled her eyes. "During one of your childish 'capture the flag' games, the daughter of Ares had blasted my tree with her lightning spear – since then, I haven't really been able to get my hair to get back to normal." She shrugged. "According to Oaky, it's nicer this way anyway."

"Oaky?" Fred shook his head. "Guessing she's an oak nymph?"

Willow stared at Fred incredulously, as if she couldn't quite believe he'd asked such a stupid question. "Do you happen to have a brother?" She asked then, gazing him up and down, her gaze stuck at his red hair. "He's a bit taller than you, and skinnier – a bit aggressively ungraceful. Not the brightest flower in the field."

"Ron!" Ginny, Fred and George said at the same time, all with a stupid grin on their faces. "You've seen him?" Ginny continued, eager to know more about what he'd been up to. "Is he all right?"

Willow shrugged, and sat down. She felt weirdly comfortable with five other strangers who still had all their weapons out. "I guess. He and his friends were headed to Colorado, last I'd seen him."

"Colorado?" The others sat down, too, and Ginny pocketed her wand. "What in the name of Merlin would they want there?"

"Well," Willow grabbed one of the branches poking out of the fire and started playing with it, "They were after the army my friend had seen there. Something to do with the guy who could talk to snakes?"

Fred and Ginny crossed gazes, both pale underneath their freckles. That 'guy who could talk to snakes' could only really mean one person – Voldemort. And knowing that their brother, Hermione and Harry were on their way to him... Well, Ginny was at least sure that whatever relaxed feeling she'd felt before, it was gone now.

"Right," Nico said slowly, "but how are they going to get there? Percy can't fly, and walking takes too long..."

"Maybe they've taken the train?" Will suggested.

"Too dangerous."

"Nico." Will turned his eyes skyward in exasperation. " _Everything_ is dangerous when you're on a quest."

"I know that! It's just that –"

Willow coughed suddenly. "I think I know how they went," she said when she had everyone's attention. "They went through the hole in the ground – who'd then swallowed them. Rumor says it's called the Labyrinth of Daedalus –"

If Nico could get any paler, he would've right now. "The _Labyrinth_?" He pronounced it as if it was poisonous, his voice no louder than a shocked whisper. "Annabeth, she knows how stupid –"

"Willow's got it wrong." Will interrupted, but he looked like he didn't really believe himself. "They wouldn't do that, it's a suicide mission."

"They did." Willow said simply. "You don't have to believe me, I'm not here to tell you about that anyway."

Ginny was bursting with questions – like per example, what in Merlin's name was the Labyrinth and why had it scared the son of _Hades?_ – but she finally settled for, "Then why are you here?"

Willow's eyes focused on hers. "I want to offer myself as your companion on your quest," she said, quickly, as if she'd rehearsed it. "I need to get to Colorado to help out my best friend. I'd do it myself if I didn't think it was too dangerous to go on my own, but it sadly just is." She pointed to Nico and Will. "They're powerful half-bloods, they can be my bodyguards."

Nico snorted loudly. "And what makes you think we want you with us? We're already with too many people –"

"Five people, yes." Willow rolled her eyes theatrically. "I hope you're not as stupid as you look. It's way safer to travel in two groups of three – I'm surprised _you_ don't know this; your sister is a perfect example why you should _never_ go with five. But I guess with the years you might've forgotten about that."

If Nico could've killed her right then and there, he probably would have, judging by the look on his face. But Will quickly grabbed Nico's arm to hold him back.

"Don't," Will whispered, but he was glaring at the nymph, too.

Ginny snapped her head back and forth between them and Willow as if she was watching a quick Quidditch match. What had happened with Nico's sister? What had that to do with their group of five people?

"Don't talk about my sister," Nico was almost hissing.

"Sorry." Willow didn't look like she was. "But you get my point, don't you? You need another member, and I need a group to travel with. It's perfect."

Nico yanked his arm back, scowling at her. "It's really not, but I suppose we've got no choice."

Will raised a mere eyebrow. "We don't?"

As if it cost Nico all his willpower, he turned, grimaced, and said through his gritted teeth; "We don't. She's right. It's too dangerous with five people to travel, unofficial quest or not. Everything in our world is sacred by the number three, Will; three fates, three furies, the Big Three... If we don't take her, two of us might..."

 _Die._ Ginny swallowed. "Okay. We'll take her. But how are we going to get to freaking Colorado? I don't fancy taking your labyrinth – judging by your reactions to it, it won't be the nicest place to be."

"It's not," both Will and Nico said at the same time.

"Then what?" Fred said. "We can't very well apparate."

"What's apparating?"

"Er," George grinned sheepishly, "it's this fancy way of traveling, Will, where we disappear in one place and appear in another. It's advanced magic, and Fred and I already have our license, but it's risky to take one person with you, let alone two each. I don't want to risk it –"

"- in case anyone accidentally splinches himself." Fred finished gloomily.

Nico and Will shared a look, and Nico then asked, "Splinches?"

"Loses a limb." Ginny grinned. "It happens quite often with young wizards, it's gross."

"Right." Will shook his head. "No apparating then."

"Why not?"

Everyone slowly turned their head to look at Willow. She was smiling, batting her eyes as if she was innocent and oblivious. (She didn't fool Ginny.)

"What?" she continued, and her grin grew. "Traveling as a demigod is a dangerous business, and losing a limb has never been improbable. Not with all the monsters trying to tear them off, anyway." She winked at the Weasleys, and almost giggled when she noticed that Ginny had paled. "Why not try this 'apparating' business? It at least gets us there quickly."

"You're mental," Ginny said, shaking her head.

"Maybe." Willow shook her head slowly. "I just want to help out my best friend."

Will and Nico looked at each other again – they did that quite a lot, Ginny noticed – and then the son on Hades cleared his throat. "She has a point. It's dangerous to travel such a long way, and if it works..."

Fred shrugged. "Well. On your head be it, then – or whatever limb you might lose on the way."

Ginny raised an imaginary glass to that, feeling the impending realization that they might be at the verge of doing something inexplicably stupid. (Okay, they probably were all stupid, anyway. But Willow's words had hit true to home – she, too, just wanted to help out her friends. So what if she might get hurt along the way? She would do it. To save her brother, she'd risk every single part of her body.)

"Cheers," Ginny said then, and was happy to see that her brothers immediately joined in. "Here's to stupid mission number two."

Nico laughed, something Ginny hadn't heard him do often. "Cheers, Ginevra."

She groaned, and everyone joined his laughter.

xxxxxx

When Harry woke up he wasted no more than three seconds before telling all his friends what had happened the night before – or during the night, rather – and who had visited him.

By the time he had finished Annabeth had both her hands in her hair, and Percy was close to cursing. (Hermione and Grover both just seemed in shock, staring at Harry as if they couldn't quite believe him that the goddess of magic had bothered to visit him in the night.)

"So, wait," Ron said slowly, "this basically means we've been going the wrong way? The entire time?" He banged his head down on the floor again – he was still lying in the same position in which he'd slept – and groaned, as if he couldn't quite believe their bad luck. (Harry couldn't help but agree.)

"She could be doing this to spite us," Annabeth muttered, her face troubled, "to throw us off our path. It isn't the first time a god or goddess has done that. And especially considering she said her children are fighting for the other side – it wouldn't be inappropriate, if she picked their side."

Harry wished it were so, but... "Yeah, but, she had sounded so _genuine_... Call me naïve, but I had a feeling she was telling the truth when she warned me."

"She told you to go west, right? ' _Go west, go back'_?" Annabeth shook her head. "That just doesn't make sense, we came from the _east_!"

Percy chuckled. "As far as you are aware. Maybe the labyrinth took us all the way to California, and we've been traveling east all day –"

"Perce, sometimes I worry about your intelligence –"

"Which I'm sure is nothing new –"

"Believe me, it's –"

"Shut up!"

Percy and Annabeth both shut their mouths with a _snap_ at the same time and turned to look at Harry. He had it up to _here_ with their bickering – they were almost worse than Ron and Hermione. "Shut up." He repeated for good measure, ignoring his scar throbbing painfully. It had been itching since he woke up, but it was definitely getting worse. "I am not in the mood for this, all right?"

Maybe he was being overly sensitive, whatever, he was just so tired of them constantly being distracted by either silly fights or secretive messages by doing what they needed to do; get to Voldemort and stop whatever plan he'd cooked up. And somehow, Percy's and Annabeth's fight had been the cherry top of it all, and Harry had enough.

"You lot," he continued angrily, pointing at his friends, "sit _down_."

He didn't use his wand to point, so he couldn't really have hurt them, but Ron and Hermione immediately did what they were told. (When he yelled, people tended to shut up and listen. Now was no exception.) Annabeth, Percy and Grover followed, a little more slowly, but they looked a little apprehensive.

(They weren't scared of him, were they?)

When they all had sat down, Harry breathed out slowly. "Good. Okay. Now we are all going to talk."

Annabeth's laugh sounded airless. "Hate to break this to you, but we _have_ been talking."

Percy rolled his eyes, and pushed his legs out in front of him, wiggling his feet, as if they were having a lazy picnic in the sun. "Too much, if you'd ask me."

"That's not what I meant." Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly. The pain in his scar was getting worse. "We need to tell you what we know of our enemy – of Voldemort – and you need to tell us all you can about the monsters who might have joined him. And, Perce..." Harry looked at his friend, "I know you told me a little bit, about.. y'know what." The other boy nodded slowly, ignoring his girlfriend raising her eyebrows at him. "It's time I told you the details about _my_ story..."

And so he did.

He didn't sit down, he just couldn't, so instead he started walking from one side of the room to the other, looking at his own hands while he spoke, trying to forget there were other people in the room listening to his every word. He had never told anyone the entire story – most people just happened to know, or rumors about it anyway – except for Hermione and Ron.

He started with what had happened on Halloween when he was one year old, and then told them everything of importance that had happened since then; Quirrel, the Basilisk, the diary – which still didn't make sense to him – and of course, the Maze and the graveyard during last year's Triwizard tournament.

Ron and Hermione only occasionally added things, confirmed what he was saying, but mostly they were as quiet as the others were.

Harry had no idea for how long he'd been speaking, but by the time he was done his voice felt hoarse and he desperately needed a drink.

"So, yeah," he finished, clearing his throat nervously, "that's, uh, that's it, basically."

"Harry," Annabeth called softly, "catch."

He looked up, and thanks to his quick Seeker instincts, he caught the water bottle she'd thrown at him. He grinned, "Thanks."

Harry didn't dare look to his friends for their reaction yet, so he continued pacing, now and then rubbing his scar absently. The throbbing had lessened, but it still tickled. (Had Voldemort's emotions heightened? Lessened? Had something happened?)

When the silence dragged on, however, he turned on his heels. "So?" he said, feigning indifference. "What do you think?"

Percy held up his hand. "Give me a second." His face looked strangely flat and free of emotion; either Harry's story really did nothing, or he was trying too hard not to let anything show.

"Okay," Percy said finally, a grin spreading across his face, "So, you're basically the Chosen One, then?"

This surprised Harry – and he started laughing. "Doubt it. Voldemort's probably just angry that he couldn't kill me when he was a baby. Prophecies don't exist in our world, remember?"

"They do," Ron suddenly realized, clearly not happy about it. "Sirius said so, didn't he? That they've heard a few. It would explain why Voldemort is so keen on murdering you specifically, mate."

"Yeah." Percy scrambled up ungracefully, and pointed at him. Harry fought the urge not to jump out of the way in case Percy accidentally killed him with that small gesture. "I'm sorry I didn't tell this sooner, but back at camp, I had a dream about Voldemort. I didn't understand why he kept talking about you, but it makes sense now."

Annabeth put out her hand, and Percy immediately pulled her up. She dusted off her jeans, and said, "It also explains why our monsters know you so well, and why they're interested. Even Echidna shoved Percy away just to get a look of you, and a goddess came to the Labyrinth to visit you, enchanting us asleep so we wouldn't interfere. I don't think they would've done that if you weren't in a prophecy or two."

Harry felt like banging their heads together. (Or bang his own against the wall, if he hadn't had a headache already.) "I _am_ in a prophecy! Right now! You all are, too, in case you'd forgotten!"

"That's not what I meant." Annabeth grinned, and gestured to Harry. "It's your turn to sit down and listen. I was talking about a _Great Prophecy_ , which must exist in your world, I'm sure, after all you've told us about Voldemort." When Harry didn't move, she grabbed her dagger and gestured to the ground again, this time more forcefully. Even her grey eyes seemed to shine in the dark, and she insisted, "Sit down!"

This time he listened.

(Despite popular belief, he had no death wish.)

Annabeth took a deep breath. "It all started five years ago, when this guy," she nudged Percy, and he rolled his eyes, "turned up at camp."

And then she began talking.

Under normal circumstances, Harry would've fallen asleep. He'd never been good at listening to long, detailed stories, let alone ones he didn't quite comprehend. Let alone fantasy ones, with monsters and names and places he'd never heard of.

But now he was hanging onto every single word that came out Annabeth's mouth.

She talked about the lightning bolt that had been stolen from Zeus, about the Great Prophecy about Percy – even though there had been some doubt about that, Percy confessed – and about the Second Titan War in which they'd fought last summer.

A war, Annabeth said with a heavy heart, that had cost them all so much. It had almost cost them the entire world, too, if Percy hadn't been who he is. (Percy interrupted at this point again, pointing out that he ' _hadn't been able to do any of it without everyone else, especially you, Wise Girl_ ', but Annabeth didn't really seem to pay him any mind, and kept talking through his interruption.)

And more and more Harry came to realize what a _legend_ Percy was.

Sure, he'd seen the proof already, back at camp Half-Blood: every demigod there had seemed to look up at him, to treat him as their leader, to look at him as he if were divine.

And honestly, now he knew everything that had happened, Harry couldn't blame them.

How could they have compared him to Percy?

He wasn't a hero like Percy was; he was just a _kid._

"Thus," Annabeth finally concluded, catching the water bottle Harry had thrown back at her gracefully, "all that was a Great Prophecy. Not a small one like we'd just been handed. At least, I hope this one doesn't turn into a full-blown war like the last one... The gods, at least, don't seem concerned with this one, and I haven't spotted any ancient monsters yet."

Percy laughed. "Don't say that too loud, Wise Girl, they might hear you."

She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you get my point. Percy was the One from the last Great Prophecy, and whether you believe in such things or not, you must obviously be in the next one. It doesn't matter that you're not a demigod, Harry," she'd obviously noticed Harry's skeptical face, "prophecies can exist for mortals, too."

"Merlin." Hermione suddenly said, her face almost glowing in the dark as pale as it was. "Percy, you're... You've done... All the things you've done, the monsters you've defeated... You've combined all the things that made Achilles, Hercules, Perseus – the old one – and Theseus famous... And you're not even an _adult_ yet."

Percy was blushing from head to toe, and he duck his head down sheepishly. "Yeah, well. It sounds a lot more exciting summed up like that. It wasn't so heroic and great when it was happening, trust me, most of it was sheer luck and help from others."

Ron and Hermione immediately turned to look at Harry, and he grimaced. Percy's words hit dangerously close to home – it was a response he could've said.

"Anyway," Percy continued awkwardly. He was almost dancing on the heels of his feet, rubbing the back of his neck, as if he wanted to bolt from this – for him, anyway – embarrassing scene. "So, yeah. Now everyone knows everything. No secrets anymore, no mysterious codes."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious."

Percy ignored that, and added, "What do we do now?"

"Simple." Annabeth's grey eyes were solid when she crossed gazes with Harry. "We go to Colorado and kick Voldemort's ass."

 **xxxx**

 **a/n: (I might have a slight obsession of writing from Ginny's POV. Cue a sheepish shrug here and an _'Ah, well.'_ )**

This was one of those 'slow, boring, talk' chapters again, I'm afraid. Don't worry though, lots and lots of action planned for the next one! (Seriously. So much fighting. My fingers hurt from writing those scenes so fast - thought that may also just be my stupid enthusiasm.)

Special question to y'all - any headcanons about this story? Some amazing people have told me theirs already, and I'd _love_ to hear all your ideas! (There are even a few Harry/Nico shippers now, how freaking - excuse my language - amazing is that? I was dancing all day when I found out.)

 **And now for the anonymous people:**

Frida: OMYGODD HAVE YOU GOT ANY IDEA HOW HAPPY THAT COMMENT MADE ME? If I'm the coolest person, what does that make you? A goddess of coolness? Actually, you know what, never mind, you are exactly that. Please make an account so we can talk properly! :) For your other kind words; yay solangelo, indeed! I've added SOME hinting solangelo in this chapter for your sake, I hope it was okay? I just ship them too much it's unfair. And ahw, thanks for saying you like the characterisation! I put a lot of heart into that - I consider it my civil duty, I'm borrowing these characters from two excellent writers, and I wouldn't dare put them to shame by treating them any different - so it's nice to know someone appreciates that. And, wait, you write fanfiction too? Why didn't I know this? Can I read it? What's it called? _Don't leave me in the lurch like this, Frida._ (And yes, I understood what you meant by Howell, haha. I've watched a few of their videos - though do not misunderstand, I'm not a big fan. Sorry.) And I'm glad you liked the bromance, too! That's basically why I wanted to write a crossover in the first place - I just _knew_ Harry and Percy would be such dorky bros and I couldn't help myself. Have a wonderful day, x.

Lthien Iriss: Of course she's condescending, she's a goddess. (Who fought for Kronos during the Second Titan War, remember that.) And hah, you got a point! Hestia is flawless.

TheBookWorm: Ahhhh why would you rip off his wonderful, glorious, divine hair?!


	23. Siriusly Concerned

**This chapter is dedicated to the many, many people complaining about the too-long chapters.** ***Waves cheerfully***

* * *

 **Chapter 23**

 **Siriusly Concerned**

* * *

"Sirius," Remus said, sighing, "the least you could do is pretend as if you're worried."

"I _am_ worried."

"Sirius."

"What? I am."

"Then why are you drinking a strawberry smoothie, sunbathing without a shirt on, and singing an upbeat muggle song?"

"It's summer, Remus, and I need to distract myself."

"From what?"

"My _worries_. And now, if you'd excuse me, I'm going to get a new smoothie. You can continue glaring at me all you'd like, moonpie, I'm still getting one. You'd like one too?"

Silence. Then, "A blueberry one, if you could. Without ice."

"Sure thing, love. Oh, and Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure _you're_ worried enough?"

"I hate you."

"No," Sirius sang, "you don't."


	24. It's Raining Cats and Dogs

**a/n:** surprise, surprise, another chapter up today. I'm sorry if the other chapter confused you, but I was just a tad cranky about the whining about the length of the chapters, and thought - keeping Stella's advice in mind - that a joke was in order. (It's always too short, or too long, too much talk or too much action for people - and quite frankly, I'm getting tired. More on that at the end of the chapter, though, so for now: **read, and enjoy**.)

* * *

 **B/n (beta's note):** Another surprise surprise, it wasn't I, Stella, who beta-read this. Acting as my substitute while I _(_ _ **a/n;**_ _left my best friend out to dry_ ) was in Sicily was Frida, AKA **friday2220**. Thanks for fixing Liz's spelling for me. ( ** _a/n_** _: god knows I need someone to do that for me._ ) And whatever other mistakes there might be. Tbh I did read this over once because _(_ _ **a/n**_ _I have stubbornness issues)_ you don't have as much betaing experience and you're Swedish. Mostly the latter. _(_ _ **a/n**_ _: what's wrong with being Swedish?)_ You don't understand, you're not Finnish. It's a Finnish thing. Also Finland has better education, so, _(_ _ **a/n**_ _: you can shut up now, Stella.)_ Yes yes. Thanks Frida, you're nice even though you're Swedish. ( ** _a/n_** _: you're banned on making notes.)_

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

 **It's Raining Cats And Dogs (Minus The Cats)**

Harry thought, strangely calm considering he was hanging on the edge of an abyss with just his fingertips, that he now had to add the force of gravity to his list of enemies.

Though he probably should've done that years ago, really, for his third year at Hogwarts and the catastrophic Quidditch matches alone.

Or the moment he'd crashed into the pine tree at Camp Half-Blood?

Ah, better late than never.

"Harry!" Hermione's voice sounded strangely shrill, and her clammy hand closed around his own. "It's so dark here! Ron _– keep still_ , I can't hear him if you keep on yelling - where are you, Harry?"

Harry thought it was pretty obvious. "I'm right here, Hermione, about to plummet to my death and all that."

"Don't _kid!"_

"I'm not kidding," he admitted, his voice a few octaves higher than normal. He refused to acknowledge the burning pain in his arms from holding on.

"Granger," Percy suddenly said, "Move out of the way."

Harry couldn't see what was going on, but suddenly Hermione's clammy hand was replaced by two strong ones, and with a _grunt_ he was pulled from the pit. He lost his balance on the way, and fell against Percy ungracefully, and they both stumbled farther away from the abyss.

"Woah." Percy steadied himself by grabbing Harry's shoulder. "Easy, dude."

"Percy?" Came from somewhere on Harry's right, and he squinted his eyes to look, even though he knew it was far too dark to see anything. "Is Harry okay?"

"Yeah." Percy sounded as he were grinning. "Harry, did you slip?"

Harry sighed. "I kept too far to the left, and the ground just sort of disappeared."

Ron's voice was weary. "I'm glad you grabbed the edge on time."

"Me too, mate."

"I told you to keep your hand on the right wall the entire time!" Annabeth sounded worried, angry and relieved at the same time, which was an odd combination. "We don't want anyone falling into Tartarus!"

Harry gave an involuntary shudder. "I won't let go again, trust me."

"Percy, keep Harry in front of you, and grab him when you see him slip again." Annabeth sounded so much like Professor McGonagall that Harry smiled.

"I'm not a baby –"

"Sure." Percy interrupted Harry, picked him up, and pushed him to the right. "I can't see you, man, so you better keep close enough that I can hear you."

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Again, I'm not a baby."

"Harry, grab Ron's shirt in front of you," Annabeth went on as if she hadn't heard him, "Ron, grab Hermione's. Perce, I'll grab yours, and Grover; you need to take mine."

When they succeeded in doing that – which was more difficult than you'd expect, seeing they had no idea where the others were standing – they started to shuffle again, this time a lot slower than before.

Annabeth's way of making sure the person in front of you wasn't falling into Tartarus was either very smart – or very, very stupid.

(What if Hermione slipped, and she pulled everyone with her? Not that Harry wouldn't jump in after her if she did fall, mind, but still.)

After twenty minutes of tediously slow – yet very scary – shuffling in the dark Hermione finally gasped, "Guys! I see light at the end!"

"Finally." Percy muttered behind Harry. "I thought this cave was never going to end."

Harry agreed. This labyrinth was scary enough when they could see – let alone when they couldn't even light a _Lumos_ to guide their way. (And yes, they had tried that, and failed, to Hermione's utmost frustration.)

Harry's relief was short-lived, however, when he saw what was waiting for them at the end of the tunnel.

Instead of having found one of the thousands of hidden exists, they had stumbled across what seemed to be the entrance to a huge high-tech factory, complete with mills, machines buzzing and many, many people working on them dressed in your usual factory work-clothing. It was obviously a metalworking factory, judging by the sparks of fire in the air and the heavy sounding drum of metal clinking together somewhere in the distance.

Only, Harry thought, feebly thinking that they had the worst luck in the world, the 'people' working behind the machines weren't really _human_.

Despite the fact that their overalls were brightly colored and had name-tags on them, they could not have been further from humanity even if they had tried.

They looked closer to being dogs – their heads were shaped like a bulldog's, anyway – but the paws they used to handle the machines looked oddly more like flippers than dog-paws, and Harry could even spot one or two of the creatures zipping across the room like a seal, barfing.

"Dam," Percy cursed under his breath from behind Harry, and he quickly pulled Harry down. "Everyone, get down, _now_!"

"Perce –" Annabeth's voice was so quiet, Harry had to tune out the drilling to be able to hear her, "- those are telekhines."

"I know."

"The same that –"

"I _know_."

Ron, who was crouching in front of Harry, looked over his shoulder. He looked about as puzzled as Harry felt. "Are you seeing the same thing I am?"

"You mean the dogs – er, seals – no, dogs – er, both?"

Ron nodded weakly.

"Then, yes."

Ron laughed softly. "Great. Just peachy. I'm not going bonkers, then. Don't know if that's a good thing right now or not."

Harry felt the urge to laugh, too. "I'm guessing it's not."

"It's not," Annabeth admitted. "They're the creatures that made Zeus' lightning bolt, Poseidon's trident – you get the picture. They're very dangerous, too, and Percy only just got away last time."

A light suddenly erupted from behind Harry.

Percy had uncapped Riptide – a sure sign he was just about to do something stupid. (And Harry quickly drew his wand in case he needed help doing just that.) "Technically," Percy said, a smile evident in his voice, "I _didn't_ get away last time. I mean," he snorted, "I think blowing up the mountain doesn't count."

Annabeth huffed. "I don't like technicalities."

"Now, Wise Girl, you wound me!" Percy sounded as if they were talking over a relaxed dinner, not like they were about to try and fight monsters, "That's not what you said when you _'technically'_ won with monopoly last week."

"Seaweed Brain, that's –"

"Am I just stating the obvious here," Grover interrupted, "or are they all staring up at us?"

Harry looked down again, and saw with a sickening feeling that the satyr was right. The telekhines – who looked strangely more like baby-monsters than grown-up ones – were staring, barfing and pointing up at them. It would only be a few minutes before they would follow them into the labyrinth and kill them all.

(There were so, _so_ many of them.)

Percy cursed under his breath, and quickly stood up. "Let me handle this."

Annabeth followed his example, her dagger already out. "Are you an idiot? I can't trust Calypso to send you back this time."

This time Percy gave a juvenile sort of laugh that sent goosebumps up Harry's spine. "Heroes only ever visit her once, Wise Girl," he said, "it's the Isles for me this time 'round."

Annabeth grabbed his hand tightly. "And this time, you idiot, I won't leave you."

"Counting on it."

And without waiting around to see if Harry and his friends would join them, they jumped down elegantly, (well, Annabeth did so, Percy sort of stumbled and fell), right into the middle of the group of telekhines – in short, doing the stupidest thing they could've possibly done.

And Harry, having never been one to think before doing, jumped right in after them.

Almost immediately he was knocked off his path by a small creature, thrown backwards on his back, his wand flying away from him.

He cursed loudly, fumbling for his sword – and groaned when he found it just in time to stab the telekhine that had taken his confusion as an invitation to rip open his chest.

"Jesus," he mumbled, scrambling upright. Everywhere around him were telekhines, and even though they were no taller than his waist, he knew better than to underestimate them.

 _But where was his wand?_

Two of the telekhines suddenly lunged at him, their teeth set on his neck, and he instinctively ducked and slashed, turning on his heels at the same time. With a quiet _hiss_ they evaporated in thin air, their strange dust falling on the red granite floor beneath his feet.

(Why did Greek monsters turn to dust when they died?)

( _Focus_.)

Looking around desperately for his wand, he spotted something else entirely – a small metal cart used in mines to transport heavy objects from one place to the other. It was currently empty, but on the rails were dozens of telekhines, sliding closer to where Percy and Annabeth were fighting.

Without thinking Harry hurled himself towards the cart, jumping over one of the telekhines to get there. (He would've congratulated himself for that move, if the telekhine hadn't scratched his leg with its teeth in the process.)

The sting felt bad, but manageable, and he jumped inside the cart without giving the cut even a second glance. "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," he muttered, fumbling around at the bottom, trying to find the brake. It must be there somewhere. "C'mon, c'mon – YES!"

He pulled the lever, and suddenly the cart gave a big lurch forward – and went downhill, straight towards the telekhines.

The first telekhine hadn't seen it coming, and stared almost comically like a deer in headlights when Harry's sword lashed out and cut off his head.

The second one tried to run, but was too slow, and Harry kicked it away from him – and immediately recoiled, having forgotten about the cut in his leg, which started throbbing.

The third and fourth jumped up at him, but he slashed the one with his long sword, and quickly withdrew his tiny dagger from his already stretched-out leg to impale the other.

Meanwhile, the cart was gaining speed, and Harry's balance was getting worse. He got more cuts the longer he went on, and he knew it was only a matter of time before his impeccable luck would run out.

 _Where the ruddy hell is my wand?_

Pushing telekhine number five out of the way he spotted the end of the rail – literally. The end was nothing less than a fifteen-feet tall oven, currently ablaze with fire, its entrance wide open.

Harry's eyes widened, and he threw himself out of the cart, not caring if he might be surrounded by telekhines if he did so.

(It was still better than being fried to death.)

In an instant, three telekhines were on him, and before he had a chance to defend himself, his sword was ripped away from him. He'd already lost the dagger when he'd impaled one of them, and weakly he tried to push one of them off.

 _I need my wand, why can't I –_ in a desperate attempt, fully knowing it would be impossible, he shouted; " _Accio wand!"_

For a few seconds nothing happened.

Then, one of the telekhines bit him in his ankle, making him kick it away on instinct and scream out in pain at the same time. (Despite their dog-like faces, they bit like honest-to-god devilish creatures, and it wouldn't have surprised Harry if their teeth were poisonous, too.)

Then, just when he was about to give up, something warm and hard flew into his hand.

"No way –" he said, for a second toop stunned to do anything.

When one of the telekhines scratched his cheek, drawing blood, however, he suddenly woke up from his daze and screeched with every ounce of energy he had left; _"impedimenta!"_

The monsters immediately flew backwards, screeching like banshees and flailing their flippers around helplessly.

Dazed, Harry pulled himself upright, looking around, surprised to see that around him – possibly only temporarily – there were no telekhines waiting to jump on him.

He was scratched, his chest, cheek and leg were throbbing painfully and he'd definitely hit his head, but he was still in one piece.

"Oh," he breathed, "I survived, brilliant. I love it when I do that."

"Harry!" Came from behind him, and he quickly spun around. Annabeth was running towards him, with more than five monsters on her heels. She was in no better state than he was, blood gushing from a wound on her head down her face, but she was still running, so that must count for something. "Now's the time for one of your magic tricks!"

He immediately pointed his wand at her, and screamed; "Duck!"

She hurled herself to the left instead, and without waiting to check that she hadn't smashed herself onto one of the machines, he said, " _impedimenta!"_

And again, the telekhines were thrown backwards, three of them hitting one of the pillars, turning to dust on the impact, and the other two disappeared from his sight.

Annabeth appeared just as quick as they'd gone, and she smirked at Harry. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine." He pointedly ignored his wounds. "Where are the others?"

"Percy was climbing on one of the machines last I saw him –" someone screamed in the distance, but Annabeth didn't even blink, "- and Hermione and Ron were lighting this group of telekhines on fire. Listen, Harry," she clutched her thighs to catch some breath, "that move with the cart was really –"

Her voice faltered, and she froze, her gaze stuck somewhere above Harry.

Dread settling in his stomach he turned around, and felt his jaw drop the ground.

On one of the biggest machines – one with huge white pipes shooting up at the ceiling, and thick blackened metal cubes on the floor grinding with cylinders – was Percy, dangling from one hand, whilst trying to keep the dozen telekhines who'd followed him at a distance.

"Percy!" Annabeth screamed, her voice crazier than Harry had ever heard.

Percy suddenly spotted them, and grinned – as if he wasn't dangling twenty feet up in the air – and he let go.

" _No!"_ Annabeth scream was inhumane, and Harry leaped forward – to catch Percy, to run, he wasn't sure. _"PERCY!"_

Then, just when Percy was obscured by the machine in front of them, the ground beneath Harry's feet began to shake, and he halted in his movements.

"What –"

"Earthquake." Annabeth said, her voice shaking but strangely relieved.

" _What?"_

"Don't worry," Annabeth continued, pulling him away from the machine. Harry thought he had plenty to be worried about, actually, especially considering the machine in front of them was shaking so badly it looked like it was about to fall down. "That's Percy's doing."

 _"_ _What?"_

"Just – c'mon."

He finally let her take him away, and they sped up, running as quickly as their feet could carry them. The pillar on which Harry had thrown three telekhines earlier on was shaking the worst, and it would only be a few moments before it broke down completely.

"Annabeth –"

"I know," she hissed, her grip on his arm almost painful. "He's going to do it again."

"Do _what_ again?"

She shot him an anxious glance, and then quickly pulled him to the right, trying to avoid the group of telekhines still roaming around.

"Percy..." she finally continued when the cackling sound of the telekhines had disappeared again, "last time we were here, we were just with the two of us. They were too many... we could've never defeated them. So he sent me away, and blew up the entire mountain."

Something was short-circuiting in Harry's brain. _"What."_

Annabeth laughed breathlessly. "Welcome to the St. Helens mountain, Harry. Or, the remains of it, anyway." She pointed with her dagger to the left, and he followed it with his gaze – and felt his mouth drop for the second time. He'd been too preoccupied with the telekhines before to notice that one side of the – underground, apparently - factory seemed to be missing, as if a huge bomb had gone off and destroyed half a mountain in its wake. In the distance Harry could just see the sea, and a big black nothingness which must've been the sky – but he couldn't see the stars from here.

(Was it night-time?)

( _Focus_.)

"Wait a second..." he almost stumbled over a hammer lying on the floor, "that's _Percy's_ doing?"

"Yeah. Duck."

"Huh?"

He glanced back at her again, and ducked, for one telekhine had apparently not noticed that the mountain was shaking on its foundations, and had hurled itself towards them.

Before Harry could draw his wand, Annabeth's dagger had lashed out, and black dust fluttered around Harry like glitter.

"Thanks," he said.

"Anytime." She tugged him along again. "Hades, I hope Percy is smart enough not to blow himself up, too, this time –"

 _"_ _What?"_

"Never mind."

"Annabeth –"

She ignored him, and pointed towards the entrance of which they had jumped from before. "Stay here, and stay hidden. I'll find the rest."

"Are you crazy?" He almost laughed. "Absolutely not. _You're_ staying, and I'm finding Ron and Hermione –"

"What about Grover, and Percy?" Annabeth countered, not backing down. "We already established that you're in the next Great Prophecy, you idiot, so you just hide and _stay out of trouble_ –"

"That's not really my strong suit." Harry rolled his eyes. "Now if you just –"

"Harry!"

Both him and Annabeth jumped and turned.

Hermione and Ron were running towards them as fast as they could, with Grover not far behind, his hands flailing miserably about as he was shouting; "Harry! Annabeth! Go!"

They both didn't listen.

Stubbornness issues, someone would've called it, but Harry knew better. "Where's Percy?" he shouted back.

"Not a clue!"

Annabeth's face whitened before hardening. "That's it. I'm going back."

"Annabeth –"

She turned around, her dagger pointed so close to his face he had to cross his eyes to look directly at its point. "Don't you dare tell me to sit back and wait, Potter, because I won't leave him." When he didn't say anything, she added almost desperately, "I won't."

"I know you won't." He swallowed thickly, and pointed to the factory again. Their friends were almost with them. "I just don't think you'd survive going back."

He was right, and judging by Annabeth's slacking shoulders, she knew it. Machines were tumbling down now, and rocks were falling like rain. (Very heavy and quite deadly rain.)

"It's just..." she searched the room frantically, "Percy –"

Hermione, Ron and Grover had finally caught up, all three of them out of breath. Hermione wasted no time in wrapping her arms around Harry tightly. "Thank god you're alright."

He humphed, not daring his voice to speak. He felt guilty for being alright – what if Percy didn't make it, indestructible skin or not?

"I don't care," Annabeth said suddenly, and she gripped her dagger so tightly her knuckles whitened. "I don't care that it's dangerous. I have to –"

Then, just when Harry grabbed her arm to stop her from running back into the fight, a figure appeared from behind one of the falling pillars, glowing blade in hand and hair standing in every direction as if he'd just been electrified.

Something hippogriff-heavy lifted off Harry's chest.

He jumped up, almost knocking down Hermione in the process. " _Percy!_ "

He didn't respond for a moment, hurling himself from side to side to avoid falling pieces of rocks – and a telekhine or two – but then he yelled, "Get into the labyrinth!"

"Wait!" Hermione pointed her wand towards Percy, and shouted; "Accio sword!"

Her sword came flying towards her, and Ron and Harry quickly copied her, before obeying Percy's order to climb up the wall again towards the labyrinth.

Annabeth was already on top, and she extended her hand to pull the rest of them up. First Hermione, then Grover, Ron – and at last, Harry. The five of them stood on the top, watching anxiously as Percy kept running a race against the clock.

"Percy, c'mon!" Annabeth yelled, and Percy almost smiled in response.

Then, finally, finally, _finally_ Percy was there, and five pairs of hands pulled him up. They wasted no time in throwing themselves back into the darkness of the labyrinth.

Harry could only brace himself when a loud _groan_ erupted from the mountain.

It was a futile attempt, however, and he and his friends were blown from their feet when the earthquake reached its peak, with rocks falling down and blocking the only exit they had found in days, dust flying past them like a storm.

For a few seconds, when it all quieted down, nobody said a word.

Harry just laid there, breathing heavily, his gaze set on his hands – not that he could see them, but still.

It was so quiet it seemed as if nothing like an eruption of a mountain had happened at all, and all Harry could hear was the rapid beating of his own heart.

Then – "Well," Percy's voice sounded strangely calm, "it certainly went better than last time."

"You – you complete and utter _prick_." Annabeth's voice sounded threatening, as if she were about to murder him. (Harry couldn't blame her.) Then a loud _snap_ echoed through the darkness, and Percy yelped. "You _bastard_ of a banshee –"

"Sorry, Annabeth –"

Another snap _,_ and this time Percy just groaned. "You know that doesn't hurt, right?"

"A girl can dream." Annabeth's voice sounded thick now, and for a second Harry thought she might even been crying – if Annabeth had been the type of girl to show any emotion at all. "You could've died, you idiot."

"Well," he laughed, "I'm usually about to die, so –"

 _Snap._ "Prick."

"Uh-huh."

"I _hate_ you."

"Love you, too."

Silence.

Harry's breath had even stopped, and his face was heating up, which had nothing to do with his concussion. He felt as if he was spying on a private moment, even though he couldn't even _see_ the other couple.

"Er," Percy's voice sounded, for the first time since the fight, small and anxious. "I mean..."

Annabeth cleared her throat. "Perce.."

"Yeah."

Shuffling could be heard, and then satisfied sigh.

Harry's face felt so hot, he was positive someone could've baked an egg right on it. He had never been one to appreciate other people's closeness – and without a visual picture, his mind went bonkers with all the possibilities of what the couple could be doing right now.

"Oy," Ron said then, his voice wavering, "love birds, cut it off, will you? The rest of us are right _here_."

Percy laughed. "Sorry guys."

"It's alright," Hermione still sounded out of breath.

"Am I the only one thinking it's weirdly coincidental that an earthquake saved us?" Ron asked after a quiet silence.

Grover laughed. "That was Percy, Ron."

" _What?"_

Harry smirked, having had the same reactions just moments earlier.

"What?" Ron repeated again for good measure. "How on earth –"

"Son of Poseidon," Percy said sheepishly.

"Curse of Achilles," Grover added.

"Total show-off," Annabeth muttered under her breath, and Percy laughed good-naturedly.

* * *

 **a/n**

Thanks guys for the long wait. It's summer! Life can get messy sometimes, even for writers like myself.

As for why I'm "tired and cranky", as I'd said in the author's note in the beginning:

I'd just like to remind y'all that I'm _human,_ and I do not like threat messages if I don't update 'fast enough', thanksverymuch. Next time I'll receive so many threats, I'll stop writing this story all-together. I don't respond well to things like that. (Mainly because, well, they scare me.) There's nothing wrong with advice, with pointing out mistakes, with trying to help me get things right, or with saying you like the story and wish me to update faster if I can. I, however, do NOT think it's right if people message me they'll kill me if I don't update faster.

 **As for the amazing non-profile-having people who reviewed - and did not threaten me in any way - here are my answers:**

Lyssa: "forever" is a big word, so I'm just assuming you meant "a short while", which is very sweet of you to say. (Really sweet. Your comment will 'forever' - in this context, it means a 'very long while' - make me happy.) I have to ask, though, how does this story gives you something to 'do'?

Solangelolove: AH? THANK YOU! I - uh - I think practice made me where I am today, regarding the way I write? And the tons of nice people along the way who helped out, gave tips and inspiration? Anyway - thank you again. Soooooo much.

BryantsHomer: You don't have to apologize, any kind of advice is appreciated. I hope this chapter was satisfactory for you, then? I've tried to include more of Percy's story in this one, and I hope the telekhines did that?

Lthien Iriss: You do? Thank you! Sadly, most people don't share your opinion, and they like the action ones the best.. Anyway, **I'm afraid I won't include any of the hoo characters in this story.** It's a frequently asked question (which is why I made it bold for emphasis) and even though I've answered it many times people keep asking. (Don't worry, I don't mind.) The world Rick created in the first five books are my absolute favorite, and it makes total sense. There are laws - regarding per example the number three in quests - and a slow-built plot building up the battle of Manhattan. With the following books, the hoo books, it all just turns to chaos. Roman gods? Gaia? All those other characters? Percy's curse just disappearing just because he stepped into a river because Rick wanted to get rid of that problem so easily (whilst in the former books, it had been a major issue, with even Hercules' ghost appearing to warn Percy for the finality of his decision?) SORRY I'M GETTING SIDETRACKED. My point is, I don't like the hoo series half as much as the pjo one, and it's too chaotic to include in a fic. I don't know how Rick does it without turning mental, but I'm not going to try. So, no, there won't be 'eight half-bloods shall answer the call', sorry! Violet, I thank you for the questions and your niceness - as always - and apologize if I might come across as forceful in having answered your question. Lots of love, x.

Matt: Is this one good enough for you?

Guest: Ginny and Nico ARE getting to 'get to know each other', don't worry :) I like their bonding too much, including their begrudging friendship blooming. Thank you!

Guest: Yes, a picnic in the labyrinth. Why not?


	25. This Labyrinth is Riddikulus

**a/n: Sadly, my trip to the US is over, and it's time for my first time at college! (Cue screaming)**

A very special and heart-felt _thank you_ to Tycho, for being so incredibly and unbelievably kind for me and this story. I cannot thank you enough, other than getting on my knees and offering you my friendship. (If you'll take it.)

* * *

 **This Labyrinth is Riddikulus**

~ Chapter 25 ~

Harry Potter was running for his life.

And amidst all the chaos, the confusing and above all the adrenaline pulsing through his veins he found himself to be strangely impressed.

Impressed, for the thousandth time the last few days, with Percy.

Because, for some inexplicable reason, the son of Poseidon thought that running from a big horde of evil nymphs screaming murder at them was a perfectly good time to _flirt._

"Percy," Annabeth managed to say between curses – the nymphs, or whatever they were, who were chasing them were adamant on throwing cactuses and other lethal plants at their heads – "let go of my hand!"

"Why?" Percy yelled back, smiling at her while nudging Hermione with his free hand to get her out of harm's way without even stumbling over his feet.

Annabeth stared at him as if he were mental. "Why? We're being chased by _anthousai_ , you idiot!"

"Which are very scary creatures!"

She humphed. "I'm not scared, Perce, I don't _need_ to hold your hand."

Harry stumbled over his feet, and almost lost hearing Percy's reply – "maybe I just need to hold yours?"

"You're pathetic."

"Maybe." Percy let go of her hand – and Harry could swear he saw Annabeth's face fall a bit – stopped walking, turned around and single-handedly slashed the first two nymphs within reach with an uncapped Riptide. "But, to be fair," he added, grinning up at her just as the last four nymphs ran away from his glowing blade, " _you're_ the one dating me."

Grover, clutching his thighs and hunched over in fatigue, managed to croak a; "Touché."

Annabeth nudged him, growling under her breath, and everyone started to laugh.

Their happy little moment, though, was rudely interrupted when one of the last remaining _anthousai_ managed to knock Ron off his feet with a well-thrown batch of roses.

* * *

Half an hour later, Harry was ready to throw his wand away in the next garbage bin they'd see.

The anthousai had scattered when Percy had gently asked them to leave (before he'd promised to hunt them down and introduce them to his sword – after that even the last angry one had taken that as their cue to go) and now their group was wandering.

Again.

Lost, without a single clue as to where they were going.

 _Again._

And Harry, having just tried the ' _point me'_ spell for the billionth time, cursed loudly when his wand just spun around in his palm helplessly, turning so quickly it was dizzying to look at.

"We're doomed," Grover said good-naturedly when the next-hallway seemed just the same as the last ten ones.

"So you've said," Ron groaned, "about four-hundred and sixty times already."

"You've counted?"

"And rounded down."

Harry snorted loudly, and even Annabeth couldn't stifle a laugh. "Guys, try to stay positive!"

Both Hermione and Ron's heads snapped back to look at him. "What?" Ron asked him, his voice as confused as he looked. "Who are you and what have you done with the pessimistic Harry we've grown to love?"

"Oh, sod off." Harry rolled his eyes. "I know I'm not... widely known for my optimism..."

"Understatement," Hermione muttered under her breath.

"But," Harry continued as if he hadn't heard it, "This isn't the first time they've been to the labyrinth." He nodded towards Annabeth and Percy, who both looked like he just confirmed their worst fears. "I'm sure it'll be fine," he added, feeling as though he was lying through his teeth.

"And that's what I'm afraid of," Annabeth said, and she sighed deeply. "Look, this labyrinth is... it doesn't make sense, even to people who've been here dozens of times – even to us three. I know it may seem like we know what we're doing, but... I honestly don't. We might be walking straight into a trap, or end up in Canada."

Ron put his head in his hands, and groaned theatrically. "Then what in the name of _Merlin_ are we still doing in this thing, then? Harry can't even find out what way north is, Hermione's magic is going bonkers here and frankly, I'm losing my mind! Nothing in this maze –"

"Labyrinth," Annabeth corrected, and smirked when Ron just glared at her for daring to interrupt.

"- nothing in this _labyrinth_ makes sense," Ron continued, "and around every turn there's an army of monsters waiting. Harry's leg is still patched up and bleeding, and Hermione's hand must be hurting her –"

Hermione quirked up, surprised, but visibly pleased that Ron had remembered her injury.

"- we don't all have that magic nectar thing you guys can use to heal ourselves, and we don't know any healing spells yet to help ourselves! You guys said that this maze –" Ron rolled his eyes before someone could say anything, and corrected himself, "I mean, _labyrinth_ – would be dangerous, but would get us there quickly... And I don't know about you, but I don't call this _quickly_."

It was quiet for a while after that, with Ron's voice echoing through the dimly-lit hallway in front of them. The neon-light reflected the same emotions on everyone's face that Harry suspected were on his; confusion and defeat.

Then, Annabeth cleared her throat, and said with a small smile, "That was a surprisingly smart comment, Ron."

Ron barked out a laugh, and put his hands in the air in exasperation. "What, you think I usually make stupid comments?"

"Of course I do," Annabeth said briskly, "but that's not my point. I usually think everyone makes stupid comments in comparison to my own."

Percy laughed. "Believe me, she does. Don't take it personal."

"Like Circe I won't," Ron muttered under his breath, and Harry patted him on the back sympathetically.

"Anyway," Annabeth then continued, "Ron's right. Coming into the labyrinth has been one of the most stupid ideas –"

"It was my idea," Percy suddenly remembered.

Annabeth smiled. "Case and point, Seaweed Brain."

Harry had to laugh – again – by the mock-hurt look on Percy's face, and he tried to remember to never make stupid comments near Annabeth ever again, she was _ruthless._

If he didn't like her very much for her bravery and love for her friends, he might even have punched her for being rude to Ron.

(And for being rude to Percy, too, though he doubted Percy didn't love every second of her teasing.)

"Then what do you propose we do?" Harry asked, ticking with his fingers on the hem of his jeans. Nervous tick. "We can't go back, that just means we've wasted _days_ in this stupid labyrinth – days we could've..." his voice faltered.

Wordlessly Hermione grabbed his hand, and squeezed it tightly. She seemed to understand him without him even needing to speak his discomfort, and Ron gave him a small smile over Hermione's shoulder – letting Harry know that he knew, and understood, too.

(Of course they understood, Harry thought glumly, they've wasted all their time by his side, time they could've spend hunting down Voldemort's new 'rise to power'.)

"I suggest," Annabeth said slowly, "that we get out of this labyrinth."

"And," Percy said, eyeing something behind Harry with a look of shock on his face, "I suggest we do it quickly."

Harry whirled around, and his eyes widened. "Yeah," he said, his voice a few octaves higher than normal, "I think we should even try to do it running."

"Mate," Ron said, grabbing his wand and turning around in the same move, "you've never made more sense."

* * *

After about half an hour of sprinting at full speed – Harry was sure that the stabbing pain in both his sides and his legs were lethal by this point – Annabeth had an idea.

A stupid idea, but it was better than nothing.

She'd turned suddenly, slipping on her heels as if she did this daily, and she'd stabbed the wall on her left with every ounce of strength she had. (And Harry knew that was a lot.) The tear in the brightly-decorated wooden wall made by her dagger immediately spread, cracking the wall, the ceiling... and then it all came tumbling down, wooden planks that made up the ceiling crashing on the floor, creating an effective barricade between them and the unknown beast.

Everyone came to a halt, and Ron instantly collapsed on his knees, breathing like a chain-smoker who'd just walked up a set of stairs. "Merlin," he breathed, clutching his sides, "you could've given us a warning!"

Annabeth shrugged, "I could've."

"You're a menace," Percy declared. "Why am I dating you again?"

"Could ask the same of you, Seaweed Brain." She countered, pocketing her dagger.

Grover groaned, slightly swaying on his feet as if he were nauseated. "Could you two not? I mean, sure, it's cute, but is it really the time to flirt?"

"We're not flirting," Annabeth and Percy both said at the same time.

Annabeth immediately scowled.

(Percy, however, smiled broadly.)

Harry, feeling slightly sick in the stomach by their theatrics – he had never really been a fan of romantics, and he wasn't a fan of how Percy and Annabeth had increased their flirting after the explosion at St. Helens – cleared his throat loudly. "So," he said conversationally, and Ron perked up, as eager as he was to focus on something else than the mushy couple, "how do we get out of here? I haven't exactly seen any exits."

"You've been to one," Annabeth reminded him. "The factory wasn't _in_ the labyrinth, remember? And this place is full of exits, if you know where to look. The problem isn't finding an exit, trust me. It's finding one that ends up at the place we want to be that's hard."

Ron scrambled upright, and rolled his eyes. "All I care about is leaving this place, I honestly don't give a rat's arse where we end up."

"Arse?" Percy laughed, "it's _ass_!"

Hermione giggled, her mouth hidden behind her palm. "We're British, remember?"

Percy grinned slowly, and he locked eyes with Harry. "Kind of hard to forget, with your stupid accent."

"It's not stupid!" Harry countered, but he was smiling, too. "You Americans make everything sound so flat and dull –"

"As opposed to you British folk?" Percy cleared his throat, and continued in a very bad, but incredibly posh, impression of English; "All right now _chaps_ , let's look at this bloody labyrinth now shall we, I –"

Harry nudged him good-naturedly, laughing alongside his friends. "That was terrible."

Percy's grin widened, and he bowed a little. "I live to serve."

"Well, then, _servant_ ," Annabeth suddenly said with a smile, "let's get a move on and find Daedalus' sign."

* * *

Judging by Annabeth's optimism from earlier on, Harry had expected they'd find one of the thousand exits of the labyrinth within minutes. (After all, Annabeth had never sugar-coated anything, saying they were doomed rather than making him feel better by saying they had a chance.)

When one hour went by, it got harder to stay optimistic.

After two, he had to refrain himself from echoing Ron's constant 'are we there yet'.

By the third hour he was dragging his feet, not feeling like he had the strength to fully lift them.

The fact that their supply of sandwiches from Camp Half-Blood was running out rapidly didn't help his mood. (Nor Ron's, for that matter. If their food did run out – and Harry suspected it would only take one more day – he did not want to know what it would do with Ron's already plummeted mood.)

By the fourth hour, Hermione finally said what he'd been thinking.

"Annabeth," she said carefully, "do you have any idea where we're going?"

"Of course I don't," the blonde girl snapped back irritably, keeping up her fast pace. "And keep up!" she added, dragging a stumbling Percy behind her, who shrugged sheepishly at Harry.

During the fifth hour, Ron stopped walking altogether.

At first Harry thought he was just tired – or hungry, Ron on an empty stomach was capable of a lot of weird things – but then he saw Ron's expression.

"Ron?" He asked slowly, and he stopped walking, too. "Are you alright?"

Ron's eyes were wide and slightly dazed, as if he'd just been blinded. "Er, yeah. Fine. Dandy. All that."

At this point, Harry was really starting to worry. "You don't look it, mate."

"Annabeth," Ron then said, his voice less dreamy but still shakier than normal. "Daedalus' sign. It's a blue 'd', right?"

Annabeth – who'd noticed a little bit later than Harry that Ron had stopped walking – stomped back to them, a wary expression on her features. She crossed eyes with Harry for a second before turning to Ron. "Yes... why?"

He just pointed.

Both Harry and Annabeth turned around, and gasped simultaneously.

During their time in the labyrinth they'd passed by many opened doors. At first Harry had studied their contents with interest, but after the fifteenth chamber filled with nothing but destroyed furniture, he'd learned to simply not look at them anymore. (He didn't know if the others did the same, but he just didn't like looking at rooms that looked like they'd been ravished by monsters.)

The room Ron was pointing at, however, was different.

First of all, it was almost empty. The only piece of furniture was a simple wooden wardrobe, standing eerily in the middle of the room. There were no shredded sheets, no torn paintings, nor any other kind of sign that this room had been entered before.

Yet on the other side of the closet shone a bright blue light, illuminating the room, and Harry instantly knew it was Daedalus' sign.

"Ron, you're a genius," Harry breathed, and he felt as if his face would split in two.

"Harry's right!" Annabeth said, and blushed when everyone snapped their heads around to look at her. "Yes, fine," she said irritably, but she was smiling. "Just – let's just go in, shall we?"

Ron grinned – very visibly in better spirits – and bowed to Annabeth. "After you."

"Ever the gentleman," she teased, and stepped inside.

As soon as everyone had followed her in, the door slammed close behind them.

Harry wasn't surprised.

(After all, this wasn't the first time the labyrinth had done that.)

All he could do was grab his wand and sword and brace himself for whatever unknown monster that was about to lunge at them.

Harry's eyes immediately snapped to the only piece of furniture standing between them and the way out – the closet. Maybe the monster was locked up inside? Maybe it would jump out at them if they tried to push it out of the way?

Then, just as he took a tentative step forward, the closet _shuddered._

"What the –" Percy voice faltered suddenly, and everyone recoiled at the same time when the closet shook even more forcefully.

"I think there's something in the closet," Grover said in a small voice.

Harry snorted. "Thank you, captain –"

The closet shuddered again, and for a moment, it seemed as if it had actually _moved_ towards them.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice sounded too shrill, as if she couldn't breathe. "I think I know what's in there."

The closet lurched again, and this time, Harry was sure it was moving closer.

He tightened his grip on his wand, and huddled closer to his friends. "You do?"

"I think you do, too." She took a deep breath, and said; "I think it's a boggart."

And Harry sort of knew in his stomach that she was right – but a big part of him just didn't want to accept it. So when Ron laughed, he laughed along, not caring that it might sound hollow and fake.

"A boggart?" Ron said, "Merlin, Hermione, I do hate to remind you that we're in the Greek world now, not ours!"

A loud thud interrupted them, and with another shudder the door burst open.

Harry immediately leaped forward.

(After all, the demigods had never faced a boggart before, and didn't have magic to defend themselves. And if he was totally honest with himself, he kind of hoped that casting a patronus would lift his spirit, even if it was an unethical way of fighting a boggart.)

Just when the boggart in the shape of Harry's fear could slide out of the closet, Percy jumped forward, and pushed Harry out of the way.

Probably thinking he could save the day again.

Or it was a stupid habit of his, Harry thought grumpily as he tried to scramble up from the floor, to jump right in without thinking.

For a second nobody breathed.

Then, one of the most _repulsive_ smells Harry had ever smelled passed over them like a wave, instantly making Harry want to double over and empty his stomach on the floor. His friends were no better, with Ron recoiling even further from the closet, and Hermione's face turning slightly green.

It smelled like socks wrapped in garlic that had been rotting in the sun, topped with a sewer smell that made it hard to breathe. It was horrible, and Harry was sure that he'd rather choke than keep breathing this.

Percy, however, seemed unfazed. He ignored Annabeth's gagging and Grover's choking, and balled his fists at his side. "Come out!" He yelled at the closet, his voice wavering and shaky. "Come out and face me, you coward!"

The fat hand that wrapped around the sides of the closet to get out wasn't something Harry had expected.

He'd expected – judging by the horrible smell – that it had to be from one of the worst Greek monsters out there, coming straight from a place like Tartarus. (After all, if it was the thing _Percy Jackson_ feared the most, it had to be phenomenal.)

The thing that stepped out of the closet, though, was a normal human being.

Sure, he smelled like corpses rotting and dipped in alcohol, and he was so fat and ugly with his oily and thin hair swept over his mostly-bald head. He looked so ugly that even Vernon would seem handsome next to him, but he was _human,_ with human hands and feet and a big fat belly.

Percy staggered.

" _Boy_!" The man rasped, his voice soft but clearly understandable. He was swaying on his feet, as if he was drunk, raising his meaty fists in the air. "You better not tell your _mother_ about this or I swear to god –"

Harry couldn't move.

All he could do was stare at the stature of the man, at his tone, at his body language – and stare at Percy, who suddenly looked tiny and scared in front of an ordinary man, as if suddenly he was a small child again, his sword and godly powers forgotten.

Immediately, he understood.

(After all, Harry thought miserably, he'd lived with the Dursleys for far too long _not_ to understand this kind of behavior.)

Before he could rise up from the floor and do something – drag Percy out of here, hug him, punch the boggart, _anything –_ Hermione got there first.

She slammed Percy out of the way with more force than necessary, and immediately the man disappeared, morphed, and changed into a green-robed and stern-looking elderly woman.

"Miss Granger!" McGonagall said, in a voice that was like the real one but not quite. "You are a disappointment to the wizarding community! I can't –"

" _Riddikulus_!" Sobbed Hermione, and McGonagall's mouth was seared shut.

Ron quickly joined Hermione, and stepped forward, so the boggart changed shape again, this time – a spider.

Annabeth screamed, and leaped backwards with such a haste she toppled both Percy and herself onto the floor – and thus, on top of Harry. He groaned, feeling as though his organs were being crushed to a pulp, and pushed them off just when Ron's loud; " _riddikulus!"_ filled the room.

The spider was now trying to stay upright, having quite the trouble with it, seeing as all his eight legs were stuck inside bright pink roller blades.

Harry scrambled up – and ignored Annabeth's protests when he had to use her head as a leverage – and leaped forward. Immediately the boggart changed into a dementor, and he shouted with all his might: " _riddikulus!"_

The dementor's hood fell off, Malfoy's pointed and pale face appeared – and Harry laughed, thinking about how, when Malfoy had done this in third year, Malfoy had ended up with a big scolding from McGonagall and weeks' worth of detention – and the boggart stumbled, falling into the closet.

Harry jumped forward once more, and threw the door closed, locking it magically in case the boggart would gather his power again.

He turned around.

Percy was sitting on the ground, not quite looking at anyone but his own shoes. Grover looked as if he was guilty about something, his eyes constantly switching between Percy and Annabeth, and he was fidgeting with his hands.

"Perce," he finally said, his voice almost a bleat. "That was Gabe, wasn't it?"

Percy took a shaky breath, his eyes still on the floor and his face as red as Ron's hair. "Yeah. What kind of monster _was_ that?"

Hermione's head was almost a blur, her cheeks stained with tears of having to face her boggart again. (She'd never been good with boggarts.) "That's a boggart," she said, "it... it's from our world. It changes into your... Well.. your worst fears."

And Harry had enough.

He stomped forward, his footsteps echoing loudly throughout the room. He grabbed Percy's hand and pulled him upward. He ignored the other boy's protests, and pulled him into a hug so tight he was sure it would break Percy's ribs if he didn't have Achilles' curse.

Harry wasn't really a hugging type.

(He certainly had never hugged someone this tightly before, at least not for comfort alone.)

"You okay?" He muttered in Percy's ear, and when he didn't feel the other boy hugging back, he added, "I've got an uncle. Uh... like that." Harry lowered his voice even more, making sure no one could overhear them. "You... you shouldn't be ashamed."

Because Percy had been. He'd been blushing and fidgeting and staring at the ground – avoiding confrontation so badly as if he'd wanted to bolt from the scene and never, ever come back.

And no way in hell that Harry was going to let him.

He wasn't the best at comforting people – maybe he should've said more, should've patted him on the back instead, should've poured his heart out about the cupboard and the cat flap and the bars – but then, suddenly, Percy hugged him back with so much force they almost fell over.

"Thank you," Percy whispered back in his ear, his hands grabbing the back of Harry's sweater as if it were a life-line.

Harry slumped in his grip, and allowed for a moment for his head to lay on Percy's shoulder. He didn't bother replying, in case his voice would crack, in case he'd stain his cheeks just as Hermione had done.

* * *

 **a/n:** This chapter has been written for my own comfort, and for all those people out there who agree with me in my great need to grant Percy with all the hugs in the world.

(Oh, and also, a thank you to the anonymous person with a suggestion to include more of the wizarding world in this story. I quite liked writing about this kind of monster for a change, so thanks.)

Another _thank you_ to Gryffindor01 for the idea of the 'point me' spell, it's riddikulus (sorry, can't help myself) I hadn't thought of it myself!

 **And last but not least, a great big and fluffy thank you to Moony, one of my best friends and coincidentally my beta - under the name 'StellaTheReviewer'. You've all heard of her, I'm sure, and I want to take a moment to put her in the spotlight, for With Wands and Swords is officially ONE YEAR OLD, and I wanted to celebrate her being my beta for just as long. :)**

If ya liked it, please, review! That'd be so kind of you. (And if I could have another thirty seconds of your time, could you maybe check out my new poll on my page? Thanks.)

As usual, here are the answers to you anonymous folk:

 **Lyssa** : Always happy to help you fight off boredom! After being friends with Stella for more than a year, I consider it one of my special talents.

 **Lthien Iriss** : Hi, Violet! Thank you so much! I'm glad you liked Annabeth - I simply _adore_ her, I adore writing about her, so I'm glad I could "convert" someone else! Also, what has his time of birth have to do with anything? I mean, we all know he's a genius, but, what? I was born at 10:44, is that special, too? I don't think so? And yeah, they did. I get threats more often than not, but I guess it's just backhanded compliments, no? Love, Liz.

 **Matt** : Thanks x infinity, 'dude', for that review! :) I hope you liked their, hug, then, in this chapter?

 **Guest:** Thanks so much!

 **Deja Vu** : HAHAHA oh my gods, sorry, but I choked on my laughter when I read your review! I'm sorry I confused you, and I hope you're still reading after you find out it isn't about Percy Weasley?

 **Guest** : Harry is a half-blood wizard. I'm sorry, but it's true. Look it up if you don't believe me! Many people have addressed this, but just as before, I'll explain. In the world of Harry Potter, you're only deemed a true-blood if all 4 of your grandparents are magical. Take per example Draco Malfoy - his parents and grandparents are wizards and witches! With Harry, he's only got 2 magical grandparents, which means that he is a half-blood. More often than not it's mentioned in the books. (Like per example the reason why Voldemort chose Harry Potter as his rival rather than Neville - Voldemort is a half-blood wizard, and Neville is a pure-blood, so he chose Harry as his equal. Or when Hermione got angry and said that the Death Eaters would gladly take a pure-blood and half-blood - meaning Ron and Harry - over her muggleborn-blood, at which of course Harry very wisely stated that the death eaters would "gladly" accept it if Voldemort wasn't trying to "do him in".) To conclude, Harry is very much a half-blood wizard, and thus able to cross the border of camp half-blood. I hope this was informative? Have a good day.

(Next time, though… please don't shout if you're confused about something. I can answer just fine with kindly formed questions, thanks. You don't stand up and call the teacher an idiot in class if you don't understand something, do you?)


	26. Well - This isn't Fun

**a/n:** sooo, University is a total bitch! I did _not_ plan to be absent for such a long time, and I apologise. I won't be gone for that long again, trust me. I don't like not writing. (And, I've already written the concept for the next 3 chapters, so it'll be fine.)

 **Special thanks to my friend, whose nickname just happens to be Harry Potter, for doing the algebra in this chapter (for I am a total wreck in anything relating to mathematics.)** If there are any mistakes, blame him. (Nah, I'm kidding. Blame me. I published it, after all, totally trusting him blindly and all that.)

OMG AND GUYS my birthday is tomorrow! I'm getting old! *cries, and rereads HP for the thousandth time for comfort*

A special note from my BETA: **"this chapter doesn't have much action, but hold on, because the next one will blow your brains up"**

* * *

 **Chapter 26**

 ** _Well_... This isn't Fun**

There comes a time in everyone's life when everything you've ever been through flashes in front of your eyes. Your hurts, your happy moments, and of course all the mistakes – regardless whether that mistake was not calling the girl you'd gone on one date with, or not having taken the chance to save someone who died.

Most people think that _that_ moment of sudden clarity is during your last moments before you die.

Harry Potter, however, knew better.

He had stood in front of death, knowing deep in his heart that he might actually die in the next second, staring down at the tip of Voldemort's wand a couple of months ago.

He had never expected to come back to Hogwarts in that moment.

He had said goodbye to Ron and Hermione in his mind, he had _accepted_ that the last words he'd ever hear someone say were the jibes from the death eaters standing by.

Harry Potter had lived through those moments – those precious seconds before you think you're going to die, where supposedly your life flashes before your eyes.

The latter, however, had not happened.

In such a moment, standing eye to eye with death on the other side, you don't think of anything at all. Your mind is blank – maybe for the first time in forever – and you can't do anything but either act on instinct or stand still and brace yourself for impact.

So when Harry Potter and Percy Jackson fell down a pit after stepping through what was supposedly the exit instead of leaving the labyrinth – what they had expected – and Harry had suddenly seen the image every other time he'd blindly jumped into something which resulted into something like plummeting to his death flashing in front of his eyes as a memory, he wasn't afraid anymore.

Percy, however, had no such comfort.

" _AAAAAaaaaAAAA! HOLY MOTHER OF ZEUS –"_

"Percy, shut up!" Harry roared, his voice just loud enough to be heard above the wind screaming in their ears, "You're not exactly helping me concentrate!"

" _I DON'T LIKE FALLING!"_

"No shit!" Harry yelled back, "Who the Merlin does?"

Instead of answering, Percy just started yelling incoherent words again.

(Greek words that sounded a lot like curses, actually, and Harry would've asked about it if he weren't in a hurry to find his wand in his pocket to save their lives.)

"Merlin –" Harry cursed, partly thankful that the pit they were falling into was this deep (and, well, also partly not.) "Where in the name of Circe is my wand –"

"POTTER!" Percy shrieked next to him, and suddenly a strong hand in the dark found his. Percy's hand was clammy and shaking – but for a second Harry didn't feel as if they were plummeting to their death. (For some reason, Percy's strength made him feel grounded. Hermione would probably have a dozen theories about that.) " _GET US OUT OF HERE!"_

 _"_ I'm trying, you GIT!" Harry yelled back, clutching Percy's hand as tightly as Percy was holding his.

And then, finally, finally, _finally_ Harry felt the familiar hardness of his magic wand tucked in his sweater's pocket. He grinned, fully knowing no one could see, pointed his wand at what he supposed was Percy and himself, and yelled; "ARRESTO MOMENTUM!"

He braced himself for the familiar feel of a cushion saving you from your fall – and instead, nothing happened.

They kept falling through the darkness.

"Okay," Harry said, and this time, his mind went blank. That was the only spell he had up his sleeve to save them from the fall. "We're dead."

" _Vlacas_!" Percy cursed. "Where's Annabeth with a genius plan when you need her?"

Harry laughed – but stopped doing so fast enough.

Because he was getting scared.

They had been falling for 30 seconds now, and the only place Harry knew for _sure_ to be that deep, were the pits hiding all over the labyrinth – the pits leading only to Tartarus.

And however brave Harry deemed himself to be, he did _not_ fancy falling down to Tartarus hand in hand with the son of Poseidon, thanks very much.

They had been falling for so long, that Harry could swear the air was heating up around them, as if they were falling into a fire – a fire that should've made it brighter than it currently was. If that didn't confirm Harry's fears of them falling down to the actual pits of hell, he didn't know what would.

"Wait a second," Percy suddenly said, his voice at a normal tone instead of his terrified shrieking from before, "this is a well."

"Well, it's better than the alternative." Harry wasn't really focussing on Percy now, trying to list every single spell he'd ever covered in class in his head. _Would Reducto work? No, wait, that might only get this entire thing to fall on them, too._ "There was this bucket above us when we fell down, I think."

"Yes!" Percy yelled, "Ron even joked about it –"

"- about why the exit would need a 'nargle-infected' bucket, yes, I remember."

 _Immobulus?_ Harry thought, _no, that won't work, we'd be too heavy…_

"Harry," Percy said in a calm voice, "I need you to brace yourself."

 _Wingardium Leviosa?_ He almost snorted out loud. Just because that worked on a troll's bat didn't mean it would –

"NOW!" Percy suddenly shrieked, and Harry's breathing stopped.

Literally.

Not because he was scared – he was – but because from out of _nowhere_ a big splash of water seemed to hit him in the face, ice-cold and mercilessly wet, and everything went black.

When Harry resurfaced again, he noticed two things.

One, he was wet to the bone, his fringe clinging to his forehead and his jeans sticking uncomfortably to his frame. Even his boxers felt wet – reminding him all the more of the fact that he hadn't gone to the toilet for what felt like days.

Second, he was lying on a stone-hard floor.

 _I'm not falling anymore._

He immediately jerked up to his feet when that thought occurred, and he looked around him, not surprised to see that it was too dark to actually see a thing further away from him than the tip of his nose. He grabbed his wand – thanking the gods that he still had it – and called a soft, " _Lumos._ "

"Morning, sleepyhead." Percy was grinning at him from the dark.

Unlike Harry, Percy looked as if he hadn't touched water in _days._ His hair was as wavy and dry as it had always been, and his clothes looked so warm and puffy Harry had to restrain himself from jumping into Percy's arms to use him as a towel.

"Morning," Harry replied, and turned the wand away from him to look around. They were sitting at what looked like a tiny edge of a small pond, no more than ten feet across, with black water mirroring himself stretched out in front of them. Around the edge of the pond was a round wall of ancient-looking bricks, surrounding them, towering above them so high it was impossible to see the top.

If Harry didn't know any better, this had to be the bottom of a –

"Well." Percy said, and he laughed when Harry almost slipped on his feet on his sudden turn. "I was right when we were falling, it was a well. Don't bother screaming up, though, they're far too high up to hear us, and there are no ropes of any kind to help us pull ourselves out of this." Percy's grin turned into a grimace. "Don't worry, I checked."

Harry fell down again on his bum, and restrained himself from crying out in frustration. "We were so close! _So_ close – we could even _see_ the exit!"

"I know, dude." Percy sighed deeply. "The Labyrinth is a bitch."

"No kidding."

They sat in silence for a while – probably with equal profanities echoing through their minds aimed at the so-called all-knowing Greek gods that fated them with such bad luck.

Percy was glaring at the water as if it had personally offended him, his eyebrows knotted together, and his lips turned upwards. After a few days – or a week? Harry had no concept of time anymore after the labyrinth – he'd grown familiar with Percy's expressions. This one, his brooding face, could mean two things. Either he was going to pass out from weariness of his powers, or he was about to go all _Poseidon's son_ and slash the entire well to bits with his blade.

And there was only one reason why he looked that way, and it wasn't because they'd fallen down a well with no way out.

It was because they'd fallen in without _Annabeth,_ and if there was one thing Percy couldn't cope with, it was being separated with her.

"Er, Perce?" Harry tried carefully, "is… is there any way to communicate with the others? A mobile phone?"

Percy snorted, and he turned to Harry with an amused expression on his features. "Annabeth has a cell, back at Camp – but normally, demigods aren't allowed to have one. Every time a demigod uses a cell phone it sends up a figurative flare, as if you're setting off fireworks to let monsters now that, hey! I'm here! Please eat me!"

"Oh." Harry cleared his throat, and shifted on his spot. Every wet spot was itching, which meant that _everything_ was itching. The wound on his leg from the bite of the telekhine, however, burned. (Meanwhile, Percy looked exactly like he had on the day they met at Camp Half-Blood. It was both admirable and infuriating.) "But you're half-gods. Surely you have some sort of communication?"

"We have Iris-Messaging," Percy shrugged.

A few seconds passed.

Then, suddenly, with such a sudden movement that Harry recoiled and almost dropped his wand, Percy hit himself on his forehead. "Iris-Messaging!" he yelled, and he slammed his forehead again. "Harry, you're a genius!" He kicked his leg up and grabbed a golden coin from his pocket, flicking it into the air for Harry to catch.

The coin was heavier than Harry'd expected, and slightly bigger than a Galleon. It wasn't as shiny, though, and the coin looked as if it was thousands of years old. (It probably was.) "Uh, thanks," Harry said at last, and looked back at Percy. "But you don't need to pay me."

Percy laughed. "No, but we do need to pay the goddess. I'm going to create a tiny stream of water in the air, and you need to point your fancy flashlight –"

"It's a wand, not a flashlight," Harry interrupted him, but was ignored.

"- at it to create a rainbow, okay? When you do so, you toss in the drachma –"

"The _what?"_

"The _drachma._ " Percy pointed at the coin in Harry's hand, and grinned. "It's the Greek currency. Or, well, the ancient Greek one. Anyway, you toss in the coin, and say these words: " _oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering_."'

Harry stared at him, wondering if he should laugh or not.

"You're serious," he finally managed when Percy just kept staring at him. "You want me to actually say those words."

Percy quirked a brow. "Yes?"

"You want me to toss a golden coin into a stream of water," Harry went on, his tone flat, "and say that to the goddess of _rainbows._ "

"Says the boy who can make things explode by shouting in Latin."

Harry laughed. He supposed that after everything that had happened, he shouldn't have been surprised by this odd ritual. "Excellent point."

So they did what Percy had said.

Percy conjured a tiny stream of water, a tiny rainbow appeared because of Harry's _Lumos,_ Harry threw in the drachma – and it disappeared into thin air, which was so weird that Harry might've gasped in shock if he wasn't used to magic – and repeated the sentence Percy had told him earlier, feeling like a total moron.

For a second Percy said nothing, just staring at the rainbow as if he was carved out of stone. Then, at Harry's gentle nudge, he croaked; "Show me Annabeth Chase."

The water before them rippled, shimmered – and suddenly, they were staring down at their friends. It was so weird, and it looked as if they were staring at an old, bad quality video of their friends, the colours blending together and the audio slightly muffled by the sound of the rushing water.

At first Annabeth didn't notice them. She was yelling instructions to Ron and Grover, who were both trying to tie a rope to the hook above the well, trying not to fall in as they did so. The bucket itself was lying forgotten behind them. Hermione was holding her wand high up in the air, muttering incantations under her breath, and the rope Ron and Grover were holding was getting longer and thicker as she did so.

Then, as if someone had tapped her shoulder, Annabeth turned around, and her eyes widened comically. "Percy!"

Grover dropped the rope in surprise, and Ron almost lost his balance, but kept himself from falling by using Grover to straighten himself up again.

"Hi," Percy said drily, and grinned from ear to ear. "Still alive, obviously."

"I don't whether to kiss you or kill you right now," Annabeth grumbled, her face as red as Ron's hair. "How did you –"

"It's a well," Percy said as a form of explanation. "The water saved us from flattening at the bottom like pancakes."

"Gods, Percy." She sighed deeply, running a hand through her thick and kind-of filthy hair. (Percy was still smiling at her water-y image as if she looked like the epitome of beauty.) "I thought for a second that it was a pit to –"

"Yeah." Percy's smile turned into a grimace. "Me too."

"Well." Annabeth sighed. "Thank the gods it's not. We're going to get you out of there, don't worry. Hermione's conjuring up some rope for us to climb – I'm going to go down, with Grover – and we'll get you up. How long did the fall take?"

"Forty seconds, give or take," Harry chirped up.

Annabeth jumped, as if she hadn't expected to see him sitting there, too. "Harry! Hi! Sorry, I…"

"It's fine." He grinned. "It was Percy you were worried about, and that's only logical."

She frowned. "No, I –"

He waved at her. "Seriously, it's fine. And we'll wait down here, then, we'll live."

Yeah," Percy said, "We won't go anywhere, I promise."

That brought a laugh out of Annabeth. "With the labyrinth, I don't trust that. But fine. Just hold on tight, we're coming. Forty seconds is deep, though…" she frowned, and looked behind her, as if Hermione held all the answers, and then turned back again quickly – as if they'd caught her in the act. "I'm not sure how deep you were falling since I don't know the speed nor angle of your fall –"

Harry and Percy shared a look, both smirking. Trust Annabeth to make something as horrifying as that fall _mathematic_.

"- but judging by the way you guys fell, and the time it took you to get down there, I'm guessing it was a little over 6300 feet, taking the average speed commonly used... I'm just going with the terminal velocity times, well, time here, and I don't have a calculator on me…"

Harry laughed. "I'd be worried if you had."

"How fast were you falling?" She continued, as if he hadn't said anything.

Percy shrugged. "I dunno, Chase. I was a bit too preoccupied screaming for our lives to really focus on our _speed_ and _angle_."

"Fair enough," she said, rolling her eyes. "Oh, and Percy," she added, "please get Harry out of those clothes before he gets hypothermia. If Harry dies before we get down there, you have Sirius Black's rage to face, and I'm sure you won't get off with just a slap in the face this time." She winked at them then, and waved her hand through the image – and instantly the message turned back into a rainbow.

Percy wasted no time to turn on Harry, his grin so wide it looked as if it might break his face in two, his green eyes shining malevolently. "She's right, Potter. Let's get you out of those clothes."

Harry groaned. "That sounded so wrong."

"What, you homophobic or something?" Percy batted his eyelashes at him, his smile never wavering. "Don't tell me you don't want a piece of this!" He even swayed his lips a little, his hands gripping his tights in a way that should've been seductive if Harry hadn't been totally grossed out.

Never, ever, in his entire life had Harry blushed so hard. "No! I'm not – _you're_ not –"

Then, just as sudden as Percy had got his 'sexy' mode on, it flipped back to normal, and he bent forward and _laughed_ , his voice echoing throughout the well. "Oh my gods," he breathed between hiccups, clutching his thighs now for an entire different reason, "you should see your face –"

Harry was sure he was radiating heat. (Maybe they could bake an egg off his face now, he was rather hungry. If only they had eggs. Or a chicken to lay one for them.) "Shut up."

Percy hiccupped once more, wiped away a tear, and then pointed at Harry's clothes. "All jokes aside, though, you do need to undress yourself. You're going to freeze to death like that."

Harry shrugged. "I'm not. I've had this before once or twice –" he'd once fallen into a pond during a day out at primary school, and Uncle Vernon, surprise, surprise, hadn't bothered to change his clothes after shoving him into his cupboard – "and I didn't die or anything." He gestured to himself, grinning. "Case and point."

Percy's smile died. "Uh, mate? That's seriously not okay. People have died from this before."

"I'll be fine." He clutched his own chest, ignoring the need to shiver. "It'll dry on its own."

"Yes," Percy said slowly, "and that might take days. This is basic first-aid, Harry, how come you don't know this?"

Harry couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled from his chest – even to him it sounded shrill and empty. "My family isn't exactly the type of people to teach me first-aid. Their form of therapy was shoving me in my cupboard and hoping I didn't cry out too loudly to wake the neighbours."

He'd blurted it out before he could stop himself – and now he wished he could jump in the pond again and hopefully drown in the process. Percy's expression…. It seemed as if the other boy had frozen, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wider than they should've been.

This always happened whenever he told too much of his childhood to someone.

(Like the time he'd accidentally told Hermione about his worst Christmas present – old and used toothpicks – she'd burst into tears and he had ended up comforting _her_ , not quite knowing why or how he ended up there in the first place, vowing to himself to never end up in that situation ever again. Or like the time he joked about having spiders as friends when he didn't have any human ones when he grew up to Ron. Ron had looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, and had spent the following two hours either grumbling incoherent words of encouragement or patting Harry awkwardly on his back.)

"Er," Harry cleared his throat when Percy continued to not say anything. "I'm going to undress, then."

That seemed to jerk Percy awake, and he sighed deeply. "I'm sorry, mate," he said softly, and he smiled apologetically in Harry's direction. "I didn't know. Well, you did kind of insinuate it when you, er…"

"Hugged you?" Harry grinned. "It's fine. It's no big deal."

"It is, though." Percy frowned, and played with a loose fray in his bright-orange t-shirt. (It was obvious that Percy was feeling the awkward tension in the air, but at least he wasn't making jokes about gnomes like Ron had done once.) "Have you ever spoken to someone about it?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Have you?"

The other boy laughed, the sound entirely different as his laugh from before. "Fair point. I did fix my problem, though. Or, well, my mom did."

"Really?" Harry immediately quirked up. "How? Did someone take you in? Did someone notice and called the police? Did your friends help you out? Did –"

"Hades, Harry," Percy's eyes widened, and he quickly grabbed Harry's arm to stop him from rising in his agitation. The spot where Percy's hand was holding him instantly dried up, and Harry probably would've asked him about it if his mind wasn't so preoccupied. "Calm down! It's not a… well," he grinned, and pulled his hand back. "The way it was solved… it was more of an unorthodox way of doing it, so to speak."

"What did you do to him?"

Percy's grin turned darker, and Harry shivered for an entire different reason than the coldness. "My mom petrified him, using the severed head of Medusa."

Harry just stared at him. "What?"

"Yeah." Percy shrugged. "On my first quest I'd ended up beheading Medusa – long story – and I'd sent it to the gods to kind of… well, to give them the finger." He laughed harshly. "I wasn't really an obedient kid, as you might imagine. After the quest, my father had given me back the head, and I'd given it to my mother… so she could fix it. And she did. He's a very nice statue now," Percy's grin was turning more sinister with the second, "I go visit him once every while."

If Harry didn't really like Percy, and considered him his friend, he would be scared shitless right now.

The way he talked about killing another human being – as if it was the most amazing thing that had happened to him – it was electrifyingly frightening.

On the other hand, though…

How many times hadn't he imagined what he would like to have had happened to Uncle Vernon? He by no means would ever have gone through with those thoughts – because no matter what happened, Vernon was human, and he was never going to kill someone, that was Voldemort's job – but he still _thought_ them.

The fact that Percy – technically, Percy's mom – had gone through with those thoughts, shouldn't change how Harry felt about the boy.

So he smiled, regardless of how he felt, and nudged Percy playfully. "You don't have that head lying around anymore, do you?"

Percy laughed. "Sadly, no. I don't know what my mom did with it – probably gave it back to the gods."

Silence fell again, and Harry quickly averted his eyes from Percy to look at the water. So far, it hadn't been as awkward as it could've been. (Maybe that was because Percy knew what it was like to accidentally slip up?) Still, he didn't want to look back at his friend again to see _pity_ reflected in his eyes.

"Well, then," Percy suddenly said, and Harry's head jerked back so fast his neck cracked. "Time to get naked."

Harry laughed, and relaxed for what felt like for the first time in hours. "Never have those words been so welcome."

Percy grinned slowly. "I take that as a compliment."

"Believe me, mate," Harry said, pulling his sticky and probably even smelly sweatshirt over his head, "you should."

* * *

Dun, dun, dun. The end!

Next chapter: Ginny's POV! Exploding things! Angst! _Bloodshed!_

I DON'T SHIP PERCY/HARRY. I mean, I would definitely be interested in some headcanons from you guys, but nah. Not in this no-romance fic. Bromance is definitely the aim for me here. (Don't y'all wanna give Harry a big hug too, though? Poor guy.)

Before I answer some of you anonymous folk, a heartfelt and deep _thank you_ to all you kind people who reviewed on the last chapter! It made me so happy, and made the stress for my first exams so much more bearable! A special note to _StellaTheReviewer,_ for being the 400th to leave a review. (You gotta slack a bit, love, if you want to give someone else a chance.)

Without further ado;

 **Lthien Iriss:** Hi Violet :) Thanks! I really liked writing about the boggart, too, the wizarding world was nice for a chance. I hoped Percy's fear wasn't too out of character, so that's so nice of you to say so. Haha, we all know Nico is special, don't we? (And if there are still people who don't know, they'll _definitely_ know so after the next chapter… *ominous laughter*) And, well, Harry has never really been that loving of couples in general, has he? But don't worry, I ship Percabeth to _bits_ so that won't be the last you'll see of them! Love, x

 **Guest:** You're welcome! I do it with pleasure.


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